MLB’S WHITE LINES
Report: As many as 25 percent of baseball players use cocaine
It’s been 10 months since Marlins ace Jose Fernandez died late at night while accidentally driving a boat into a jetty off the coast of Miami. He had alcohol and cocaine in his system at the time, according to the toxicology report. Two other passengers were killed, too.
While baseball has been fixated on performance-enhancing drugs, cocaine usage in the major leagues is a separate issue and isn’t rare, according to a HuffPost report by Andy Martino on Friday.
Four unnamed players — two active and two who recently retired — spoke to the outlet on the subject. Three players said they thought as many as 25% of major leaguers use cocaine, with the other player estimating that “one or two guys” on his team used cocaine or marijuana.
At least one of the players told HuffPost that he had seen someone’s career decline amid lasting concern from the team about using the drug.
“I think baseball has had a (drug) problem for its entire life,” an active player told HuffPost. “Take into account our age and fame and money, and the number (of users) goes up fast.”
Fernandez was just 24 years old when he died in September. Tommy Hanson was 29 when he died in November 2015 due to delayed complications of cocaine and alcohol toxicity, according to the late Brave pitcher’s autopsy.
MLB’s Joint Drug Agreement doesn’t allow “drugs of abuse” to be used — cocaine, marijuana, opiates and ecstasy — but players aren’t tested for them without “reasonable cause.” In the minors, however, this isn’t the case: Players can be randomly tested for these drugs.
Once someone is promoted to the majors, it is common to celebrate by using cocaine or marijuana, players told the website.
One infielder told HuffPost that after he was called up to the big leagues in 2012, some of his teammates took him out to a nightclub after a game. On the cab ride over, three veteran players — one who was just an All-Star — pulled out cocaine. They used the drug in the vehicle, according to the player, and then snorted cocaine while at the club, too.
The player, who retired last year, added that he used cocaine “a handful” of times throughout his career.
Although MLB officials reportedly didn’t support the notion that there’s a growing illegal drug problem, one former official said: “There is so much focus on (PEDs), and for me, having a crack or cocaine addiction is worse than using Androgel.”