September 6, 2019

Skaggs Legacy

MLB and the MLBPA are talking about instituting opioid testing:

MLB does not currently test major league players for opioids, though they are on the league’s banned-substance list. Minor league players, whose drug program is far more stringent, are tested and subject to suspension for positive results. A league spokesman said in the past half-decade, 10 suspensions for opioids have been levied from around 75,000 tests. Minor league players are placed into a drug-treatment program after the first positive test and suspended following the second.


The league nevertheless is pushing for testing at the major league level, aware that major league players with more money and trying to survive the difficulty of a 162-game schedule could be more subject to opioid abuse. Officials have discussed a number of options in exchange for adding opioids to random testing, including the possibility of removing all testing for marijuana, sources tell ESPN. Currently, only players who are in the joint drug-treatment program from a prior offense are tested for marijuana, and while those who run afoul of the program are subject to discipline, MLB never has suspended a major league player for marijuana use.


In the minor leagues, marijuana is treated as a so-called “drug of abuse” — on the same level as opioids and cocaine — and players are subject to three levels of suspension: 50 games for the first offense, 100 games for the second offense and a lifetime ban for the third. Club officials have admitted to adding a player to their team’s 40-man roster earlier than planned to ensure he falls under the major league drug plan and is no longer subject to suspension for marijuana use.

ESPN.com

As states continue to decriminalize marijuana use, it probably makes sense to end testing. Players can use weed to lessen pain, which may keep them away from opioids as well.

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