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FARIBAULT, Minn. - When the Mitchell Report, which detailed the illegal use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, was released earlier this month, we listened as local coaches confidently declared that they don't believe any local athletes they have seen or coached use steroids. We have no reason to doubt their assertion.

Yet, we know for certain about as much as they know for certain because neither the state of Minnesota nor its high school athletics governing body required any sort of testing for its athletes. And in this case, not knowing is a dangerous game.

Far from giving in to the steroid hysteria caused by the Mitchell Report, we recommend that the state and the Minnesota State High School League take up the issue of random steroid testing for four reasons:

-- It's happening. Whatever local coaches might believe about what's happening here, the fact is, steroid abuse is happening among high schoolers. Statistics in the Mitchell Report cited studies suggesting up to 6 percent of high school students in the U.S. took steroids without a doctor's prescription. That's about 300,000 students.

-- There's an incentive for it to happen. Beyond the social benefits to a high school kid of being seen as the best of the best at his sport, there are financial incentives to look for an edge: college scholarships.

When you couple the natural competitive desire to be the best at the high school level with the gains to be found by reaching the next level, the foundation is there to provide an incentive for abuse of performance enhancing substances.

-- There's no harm in testing. Civil libertarians likely will disagree, but proving an athlete to be clean does not cause harm to the athlete, his family, the team or his school in any way. We're not even talking about a needle stick here.

-- There is tons of harm in abuse. Among the dangers shown by various studies: Mania, heart attack, liver injury, reproductive problems, stunted growth, acne, hair loss.

The good thing for Minnesota and the Minnesota State High School League is that the trail already has been blazed for a smart steroid testing plan. It comes from New Jersey.

In 2006, New Jersey became the first to institute a statewide steroid-testing policy for high school athletes. The plan calls for random testing of athletes who have qualified for team or individual state championships, with a one-year loss of eligibility for those who test positive. The tests, which cost between $150 and $200 each, were funded by the state's high school athletic association.

That's a smart, simple and effective plan that isn't bogged down by bureaucracy.

Minnesota should look hard at New Jersey's rules and then implement a similar plan. Bottom line: It's about making sure our kids aren't hurting their long-term health for short-term glory like some of their professional idols are.