First, the major news is Marijuana and THC are no longer on the banned substances list in baseball. Second, MLB will begin testing for opioids and cocaine, but only players who do not cooperate with their treatment plans will be subject to discipline.
One of the many reporters on twitter who broke this is Nick Groke who covers the Colorado Rockies for The Athletic.
MLB made it official today, they removed THC, CBD and cannabis from the league's banned substances list. Players won't be tested for it. It's now on the level of alcohol…
— Nick Groke (@nickgroke) December 12, 2019
Equally important to this discussion is the impact the death of Tyler Skaggs from opioids had on this ruling. Therefore, here is how MLB union leader Tony Clark puts it; which obviously touches on that unfortunate memory some.
“Players from our side of the equation recognize that there was an opportunity to take a leadership role here in this discussion. Players aren’t immune to issues that affect all of us, and so the situation this year only heightened that, brought it even closer to home.”
Moving forward, baseball will test for opioids, Fentanyl, cocaine, and synthetic Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Players who test positive will be referred to the treatment board established under the agreement.
What this suddenly means is not a bunch of baseball players smoking marijuana. Simply, the sport is choosing to fight it’s battle. Baseball recognizes that the more serious issue are lives lost from things like pain-killing drugs and not marijuana.
This is not a bad decision by baseball, and the ripple effect will be seen in the years to come if results are positive. Finally, it’s nice to see baseball recognizing a problem immediately so that no tragedy comes into the sport like it did this past summer when Skaggs passed away at a young age due to opioid abuse.
