By Jordan Kobritz
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have reportedly reached an agreement to remove marijuana from the list of banned substances for Minor Leaguers.
The change comes as a surprise, considering the MLBPA has never represented minor leaguers. That fact was established in the very first Collective Bargaining Agreement between the nascent union and the owners in 1968. As a result, MLB has been free to impose whatever drug policies it desires on Minor League (MiLB) players. That will apparently change under the anticipated amendment to the Joint Drug Agreement in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
As part of the amendment, MLB players have agreed to be tested for opioids beginning in spring training. The new policy will permit MLB to test for fentanyl, cocaine and synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in addition to opioids.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 48,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2017. The 2019 figures will include former Angels’ pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died from an opioid overdose in a Texas hotel room last July. Angels’ employees reportedly knew of Skaggs’ drug use — as well as that of other players – and one member of the organization admitted using opioids with Skaggs. Skaggs’ death undoubtedly led to the agreement by the players to undergo opioid testing.
The update to the drug policy takes a treatment-based approach, rather than a punitive one. The only way players can be disciplined for a positive opioids test is if they fail to cooperate with an initial evaluation or if they violate a proscribed treatment plan, which is similar to the approach the parties take to alcohol abuse. Both players and owners prefer that players get treatment rather than continue down a spiral that led to Skaggs’ death, hence the compromise that allows testing in exchange for no punishment.
Players who test positive will be referred to a board composed of medical professionals who specialize in substance abuse, as well as representatives from MLB and the players’ union. If needed, a personalized treatment plan will be created. Players and team personnel will also be given mandatory educational programs during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, which covers the remaining years of the CBA, on the “dangers of opioid pain medications and practical approaches to marijuana.”
For MiLB players, the change means they will treated like major leaguers when it comes to marijuana, as they are for alcohol – they will no longer be suspended for a positive test of either drug. Currently, MiLB players who test positive for marijuana face game suspensions of 25, 50 and 100, respectively, for first, second and third positive tests. A fourth positive test results in a lifetime ban.
However, unlike their major league counterparts, minor leaguers still won’t enjoy the benefit of a grievance procedure. If they test positive for marijuana, like any other drug, the only thing they can do is ask for the second half of the already tested sample to be tested again. There is no process in place to appeal the procedure for testing to ascertain whether it was adequately followed. Their only recourse is to appeal to the Commissioner.
Marijuana allegedly helps players recover from injuries and deal with the aches and pains associated with playing baseball. In some circles, that qualifies it as a performance enhancer, no different than the PEDs banned in all organized sports.
The removal of marijuana from baseball’s drug testing policy is consistent with a trend currently in favor throughout the country. While the drug remains illegal at the federal level, a number of states — including several that are home to MLB teams – have voted to legalize it.
Baseball will become the first major sport to eliminate testing for marijuana at the professional level, a progressive approach for a sport that is normally hidebound by tradition.
Jordan Kobritz is a non-practicing attorney and CPA, former Minor League Baseball team owner and current investor in MiLB teams. He is a Professor in the Sport Management Department at SUNY Cortland.
