Interesting

Thought this was an interesting article, decided to post it. 

Baseball’s annual drug report came out yesterday and the results are not terribly surprising: 3,714 drug tests and 17 positives, only two of which were for PEDs used byEdinson Volquez and Ronny Paulino. The other positives were stimulants and recreational drugs.

These test results will lead to predictable statements from the predictable parties: Major League Baseball will crow about how low the drug-use rate is and will say it’s because of its tough testing regime.  The anti-drug people like the World Anti-Doping Agency* will say it’s evidence that baseball is whitewashing a no-doubt rampant drug problem. It’s just what they do.

I’m more interested in another number: 105. That’s how many players got Theraputic Use Exemptions in order to be able to take the drug Adderall and similar ADD-treatment products.  They’re stimulants, by the way, and they’re otherwise banned because they work like greenies.  105 players represents around 10 percent of those players who are tested.  ADD occurs in something like three percent of the population. I don’t know enough about ADD to say anything particularly intelligent here, but I am curious to know what sort of medical documentation is needed before baseball grants a Theraputic Use Exemption.  A doctor’s note? An exam? Must there be some evidence of ADD diagnosis in the player as a child? Because that’s when most ADD cases present themselves.

Or is this just the big loophole? From NBC sports

With so many no-hitters happening this season, I wonder if most pitchers were taking adderall or similar drugs. Makes me wonder how rampant it is in other sports. I can see adderall helping basketball payers, better focus on their free-throw attempts. Also, what about kickers in football?