But it was the sharply declining rate of steroids use that became notable enough for President Bush to mention in his Tuesday press briefing. Even the White House's deputy drug czar Scott M. Burns held a conference call on youth steroids use this week.

"The message is out there now, loud and clear, every time an athlete gets caught … and has to face the negative consequences," said Burns, the nation's representative to the World Anti-Doping Agency. "It appears they (America's youth) are getting the message that those who participate in sports have to do so cleanly."

The study showed that 33 percent fewer students in 2007 (0.6 percent) acknowledged having used steroids in the past month than those who did in 2001 (0.9 percent).

Declining trends have become most noticeable after youth steroids use reached its peak around 2001, the same year when baseball's home-run numbers boomed and slugger Barry Bonds hammered a single-season-record 73 home runs beneath a suspicious cloud of performance-enhancing drug use.

Since 2001, the prevalence of surveyed students who have used steroids in their lifetime has decreased from 3 percent to 1.8 percent — a 40 percent drop. The prevalence of students who have used steroids in the past year has shrunk from 2 percent to 1.1 percent— a 45 percent drop.

Disapproval of steroids use remains high, hovering around 90 percent among 12th graders. This attitude against steroids coupled with continued drug testing might be the vaccine shot in the arm the sports world will need for drug-free future.

"We're hopeful that steroids use (in society) is on a downturn for good," said Burns, the deputy director for state, local and tribal affairs at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "This bodes well for the future."

Burns called the decline dramatic and the most significant since the downturn in youth drug use after the cocaine-related death of NBA player Len Bias.

Other studies show similarly low usage rates for steroids. The Center for Disease Control's 2005 Youth Risk Surveillance System found that 4 percent of 13,953 high school students admitted using steroids. The youth sports non-profit LA84 Foundation reported that 1 percent of the 252 Southern California high school athletes acknowledged taking steroids.

Burns said the Bush Administration is pushing for more states to adopt steroids testing programs at the high school level and for major pro sports leagues to expand year-round, no-notice testing on a wider menu of performance-enhancing drugs.

Burns sounded convinced that today's younger generation has learned not to use steroids by seeing case after case unfold and sports star after sports star tumble.

He dropped a few names — track and field darling Marion Jones, sprinter Kelli White, cyclist Floyd Landis and sluggers Bonds and Mark McGwire, among others — as examples of celebrated athletes who have struggled after being suspected as cheats. As youngsters, it's easy to know right from wrong about steroids when you're not an adult athlete having to make a career-sustaining choice. The tough part might come when today's more enlightened generation has to keep tomorrow's sports fair and free of whatever magic pill comes after steroids.

Contact the writer: masmith@ocregister.com