If you grew up in the 90s and/or early 2000s you might remember Sublime’s cover of The Toyes “Smoke Two Joints”. The main chorus implies smoking marijuana twice in the morning and twice at night. It’s catchy, it’s iconic and it might the future of MLB. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, there’s a new agreement being discussed with the league and the players union to remove marijuana from the banned substances list. Is this big? Yes, it is. It might just save baseball.
Let The Kids Play
Minor League Players have been tested for marijuana use in most of their forms. Like in any other sport, if they get caught, they get suspended. That would be completely fine, you got to play by the rules after all. However, the only problem is that playing in the Minors isn’t like any other sport. Most MILB players don’t make enough money to take a break during the offseason. Unless your name is Eloy Jimenez, you have to take another job during the winter if you want to pay the bills. Therefore, suspending young players for using the substance doesn’t do them any good.
These kids don’t quite make a living out of playing ball just yet and suspending them only gets them away from playing when they need to play the most. Furthermore, no player can’t develop fast enough if you don’t let them play early on. Allowing them to use the substance and its derivatives might also have even bigger implications for the players in the farm systems health-wise.
Hooked On Other Drugs
Jose Fernandez passed away in 2016. He left the world too soon after a boat crash. Fernandez had cocaine in his system and was legally drunk during his last day on earth according to the toxicology report. His death was a blow to the sport and a wakeup call on drug use at MLB level. The Cuban pitcher also eft a hole in the Marlins’ rotation. A hole that has been impossible to fill up.
Tyler Skaggs suffered a similar fate as 2019 was another tragic year for baseball. Skaggs passed away at 27. He was found dead in his hotel room in Texas the morning of July 1st. His death was ruled an accident as he drowned on his own vomit after mixing fentanyl and oxycodone with alcohol. Such drugs were obtained through a team employee.
Marijuana Could Have Saved Them
Those lives are gone. America’s pastime lost two promising pitchers in the span of three years. We know their cause of death, we know what they took, nonetheless, their passing still remains somewhat unknown. It is impossible to know what they were going through that made them rely on such drugs. Pain could’ve been a cause, either physical or mental. Some say you don’t know what you had until you lose it, the story is similar for them.
Let The Revolution Comence
This is a big deal. Marijuana, weed, pot or whatever you want to call it will be good for baseball. If both the MILB and the MLB work together to destigmatize its use in any of its forms, they might kick off a revolution. A revolution on rehab, pain management, and stress relief. But, above all, it might save lives.
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