A series of chat sessions about drug and supplement use in sports is being conducted on the Internet in the coming weeks.

The program may shed light on the risks involved in using nutritional or dietary supplements to enhance athletics practice or training regimens.

The chat sessions on CBS SportsLine (www.sportsline.com) will take place throughout October and early November. They are designed to answer questions such as:

Why is drug and steroid use popular among young athletes?

What are some of the risks associated with steroid and drug use?

What healthy alternatives can athletes rely on to help improve their performance?

How is drug and steroid use affecting the ethical fabric of amateur sports?

The chat sessions will involve members of the National Center for Drug-Free Sport and the Dietary Supplement Resource Exchange Center, among other experts in the field.

The sessions are important because studies have shown that steroid use among males in their early to mid teens has increased recently. The latest statement on steroid use from "Monitoring the Future" -- an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes and values of American secondary school students, college students and young adults -- indicated that steroid use among eighth-grade boys jumped from 1.6 to 2.5 percent in 1999, while use among 10th-graders increased from 1.9 to 2.8 percent.

According to a 1997 NCAA study, steroid use dropped among college athletes from 2.5 percent in 1993 to 1.1 percent in 1997, but the study found that a much higher proportion of anabolic steroid users reported having begun use in junior high or before.

The October 24 session will focus on the science behind sport drug use and drug testing. The November 1 session features a look at ethics and drug use in sport, and the final session November 7 features an account from a former college student-athlete who tested positive for steroids. Each session begins at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

For more information, go to CBS SportsLine.