exas is poised to become the first state to test high school athletes randomly for steroids, the most dramatic step yet in a nationwide backlash against the dangerous muscle-building drugs that have infested locker rooms across America.

The Texas Senate this month approved a measure to test 3 percent of the state's 740,000 high school athletes, or about 22,000 boys and girls, for steroids every year. The Texas House of Representatives approved a similar measure, which would have an athletic association pay for the testing instead of the state.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has not taken an official position on the legislation. But lawmakers expect him to sign the final bill, which would make Texas the first state in the country to make all of its high school athletes eligible for random steroid testing.

California, Illinois, Florida and New Mexico also have been debating steroid testing for student athletes, as health officials and parents' groups increasingly voice fears that boys and girls are sacrificing their health for fleeting glories on the playing field.

Anti-steroid activists, who have clamored for testing for years, believe momentum is building nationally. But there are lingering concerns about costs, and about violating the privacy of thousands of boys and girls to catch a relative few.

A California lawmaker's proposal to test about 20,000 high school athletes a year randomly was rejected last week in a state Assembly committee amid opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and the California Teachers Association.

In Texas, Don Hooton of Plano described the action on bills there as a giant step forward. "Our hope is that this Texas legislation will be the first of a wave that will cross the other 49 states," said Hooton, who began campaigning for tougher steroid laws after the death of his 17-year-old son, Taylor.

The teenager hung himself in 2003 after using steroids and sinking into a depression. Taylor's baseball coaches had told him he needed to bulk up if he wanted to pitch for the varsity team; he confessed to taking steroids after he suddenly gained 30 pounds of muscle, but claimed he had stopped - although the drugs were found in his system after his death. The Hootons later found Mexican steroids in Taylor's bedroom, wrapped in a U.S. flag.

"As we learned with Rafael Palmeiro, just asking people whether they're using steroids simply isn't going to cut it," Don Hooton said, referring to the pro baseball player who flatly told a congressional panel, "I have never used steroids," only to fail a test for them fewer than five months later.

Experts say it is difficult to estimate how many student athletes are taking steroids, because users often conceal their habit even from their closest friends. But some experts believe that 750,000 or more youngsters in the U.S. will use the drugs before graduating from high school. Monitoring the Future, a University of Michigan survey that has been tracking drug use among seniors since 1975, found last year that 2.7 percent had used steroids.

Steroid abuse can cause cancer, kidney tumors and high blood pressure, as well as depression, sudden mood swings and violent " 'roid rages," according to the National Institutes of Health.

But many users show no outward side effects other than increased muscle mass, leading some experts to conclude that only rigorous testing will deter boys and girls from the drugs in a high school culture where athletic success translates into popularity.

"I don't take lightly government intrusion into our lives, but the seduction of these drugs is so strong for these kids," said Charles Yesalis, a Pennsylvania State University professor who is a leading authority of steroid use among young people. "They can take a boy or girl and significantly change their body. Winners are given more adulation than losers, and these drugs can really make a difference in who wins and who loses."

Under the Texas legislation, any student participating in high school athletics sanctioned by the state's main competitive body, the University Interscholastic League, would have to submit to random steroids testing.

Three percent of boys and girls at the roughly 1,300 schools that are part of the league would be selected from a pool that includes all athletes.

Tests would be conducted multiple times during the year by certified laboratories. The legislation does not specify how the tests would be done, but does call for the Interscholastic League to be in charge of administering them. The league is consulting with the National Center for Drug Free Sport, which operates the National Collegiate Athletic Association's drug testing program, about how best to conduct the checks.

Some Texas lawmakers have argued that decisions on whether to invade the privacy of youngsters should be left to individual school districts. Some school officials, meanwhile, have suggested that steroid fears are overblown. A recent Texas A&M study found that steroid use among high school kids was dropping due to greater public awareness about the dangers, and that less than 2 percent of seniors in the state were taking the drugs.

"Anything we can do to help kids stay away from steroids, we're for," said Ronnie Tipps, the athletic director at Southlake Carroll, the reigning powerhouse of Texas high school football. It has won three straight state championships and was named the top team in the nation by USA Today.

"But our research shows that less than 1 percent or 2 percent are into steroids," Tipps said. "I would like to see testing extended into drugs and alcohol."

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