Why Athletes Could Benefit from Drug Class

Professional athletes usually have very short careers. Even if one manages to sustain a long career they always end before the age of 50, usually before the age of 40, and many before the age of 30.

To stay on top for the few short years they have, athletes do whatever it takes to “stay in the game,” including taking performance enhancing drugs, anti-inflammatories  (like cortisone) as well as prescription medications to ease pain.

Athletes are drawn to prescription stimulants because these drugs give them a boost of focus and energy. Seeking a competitive edge, some players feign symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to get “legal” amphetamines.

Does Major League Baseball have a problem with stimulants? You bet it does!

The number of players getting “therapeutic use exemptions” from baseball’s amphetamines ban, quadrupled in recent years. While some players undoubtedly have a legitimate medical need for ADHD medications, it appears that others are merely looking for ways to evade the amphetamine ban.

I would like to see MLB and other organizations work harder toward keeping athletes from using prescription drugs. Just because it is available, and teams have on-staff physicians, does not mean that these should be doled out like Halloween candy. Therefore, I believe it would be very beneficial if MLB mandated drug classes for all players. They are our heroes after all.