Some American professional sports organizations, such as the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), have served as auxiliary enforcers of the United States government’s marijuana prohibition, testing players for marijuana use and imposing penalties on them if it is determined they have used marijuana. On Thursday, MLB, along with the Major League Baseball Players Association, announced a reversal of that policy for baseball players, starting with the 2020 spring training.
Here is how the announcement describes the new policy regarding marijuana:
MLB is not, however, giving up on the drug war altogether. At the same time it is removing the marijuana restrictions, MLB is expanding testing for opioids, fentanyl, cocaine, and synthetic THC.
Mick Akers delves into the MLB changes, and discusses the differences in treatment of major and minor league baseball players regarding drugs, in a Las Vegas Review Journal article you can read here.
More professional sports organizations will surely follow in eliminating marijuana use prohibitions.
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