They say that everything is bigger in Texas. Well, that must include mistakes, because education officials are about to commit a whopper of a blunder later this month by implementing a draconian steroid testing program.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that the University Interscholastic League, which oversees Texas high school athletics, hopes to have a mandatory testing program in place by the end of October, just in time for the end of football's regular season, which wraps up Nov. 9.

A reported $6 million has been allocated to fund the all-sports encompassing program, which will test more than 23,000 students over the next two years from a selected pool of 30 percent of Texas' 1,246 public high schools.

As bad as the concept of testing high school kids for something that hasn't even been documented to be an issue, namely steroid use, Texas is making it even worse by treating students who refuse to take the test as if they tested positive, which draws a 30-day suspension on the first offense.

This remarkably invasive approach, which relies on testing that, according to experts quoted in the San Antonio Express-News, can't even determine whether the source of the testosterone came from an oral steroid, an injectable steroid or a dietary supplement, is fraught with peril.

Imagine the damage done to the reputation of a kid whose positive test is triggered by taking a perfectly legal dietary supplement? This "hang 'em all now and sort out the guilty ones' approach virtually invites a lawsuit, and if that's what it takes to get cooler heads to prevail in this steroid mania, bring it on.