The presidents, athletic directors and coaches of Southeastern Conference schools have discussed the possibility of implementing a conference-wide substance-abuse policy, Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity told ESPN Thursday. If the presidents bring it to a vote and pass it on Friday, the SEC would become the nation's first conference with a conference-mandated substance-abuse policy for its athletes.
The penalties for a first, second or third positive test would not be determined by the individual schools and would be the same for each. McGarity noted that it is not definite that the presidents will have enough support to bring it to a vote, but the fact that it's being discussed at the president level is significant.
"I don't think it's necessary to get down into the weeds as far as how many times you test, what are the measurements, what are the minimum [levels for a positive test]," McGarity said, "but we believe there should be some type of consistent penalty [for each positive test]."
Based on the substance-abuse policies obtained by ESPN from the schools' official websites or through public records requests, any athlete enrolled at Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and LSU is dismissed after a fourth positive test, while the remaining 10 SEC schools opt for dismissal after only a third positive test.
The school's substance-abuse policies are recreational drugs, such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine and Ecstacy. Each school determines the punishment for each positive test.
The NCAA also conducts tests for performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, and those penalties are the same for each NCAA member institution: a first positive test for steroids is a one-year suspension; a second ends a student-athlete's NCAA eligibility for the remainder of his career.
Getting the 14 SEC presidents to agree on what the punishment should be for each positive test could be simple compared to the other details involved in each institution's substance-abuse policy. The other questions remaining include: How frequent are the tests? What exactly constitutes a positive test? Would the SEC hire an outside company to conduct the tests or leave it up to the individual schools? Would all the testing methods be identical or just the penalties?
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