MLB to allow use of marijuana across baseball; even minor leaguers exempt from tests

Minor League Baseball has removed marijuana from its list of banned substances. The Athletic's journalist, Ken Rosenthal reported that Major League Baseball is eliminating marijuana from its list as part of a negotiation with the player's union regarding a new agreement on opioids. Effectively, it means that marijuana would be legalized across baseball. Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem said the league would "absolutely" like to test for opioids during the 2020 season. 

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MLB: No more suspensions

Los Angeles Times journalist Bill Shaikin added more information about the meeting which happened in October. Shaikin informed that commissioner Dan Halem stated that the minor league would be open to allow tests for opioids in the 2020 season. Shaikin added that marijuana and opioids were both considered as 'drugs of abuse' under baseball's policies. However, major leaguers were only being tested for performance-enhancing drugs and not for marijuana or opioids. The fact that minor leaguers face suspension for 'marijuana and opioids' was completely uneven. According to Shaikin's report, 13 minor leaguers have faced a suspension for testing positive for marijuana in 2019. 

An article published by CBS Sports states that under the current regulation, minor leaguers who are there in their team's 40-man roster are excluded from marijuana tests. Whereas those who are not there in the 40-man roster are actively tested for the use of the substance. Those who test positive for the first time in the non 40-man list are suspended for 25 games. Non 40-man players are handed a 100-game suspension when they test positive for the drug three times. If they are tested positive the fourth time, they are banned for life.

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