ADD Drugs and Major League Baseball

Now just as Major League Baseball is trying to come out from the cloud of streroid use and claim that all of the players are now clean I see that there is a new drug that is being used by Baseball players in increasing numbers.

In 2006, there were 35 so-called 'Therapeutic Use Exemptions' for drugs, of which 28 were for Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to data provided to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by Major League Baseball and the players' association. In 2007, the exemptions skyrocketed to 111, of which 103 were for ADD and ADHD

The main drug that these players are taking is Adderall. Adderall is a drug that is used to increase energy and concentration and I wrote a piece about Adderall last year. It seems that not only are high flying business guys using Adderall but now athletes are and they can claim that it is needed for a real medical problem.

According to the MLB data, 1,354 players were subject to testing last year. That means 8.2 percent received permission from their team physician and Dr. Bryan Smith, baseball's independent program administrator, to use Ritalin and Adderall, stimulants better known as treatments for hyperactive kids.

'That would make that almost eight times the normal adult usage in our population,' said Massachusetts Democrat John Tierney, who brought up the issue.

Get ready for more investigations of MLB

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