Congressman John Tierney raised an interesting question when he and colleagues met with representatives of Major League Baseball at the Capitol this week.
The hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform focused on the use of steroids and human growth hormones by professional baseball players. But Tierney's question concerned drugs, which, unlike steroids and HGH, are still legal in the sport.
The North Shore congressman wanted to know why the number of "therapeutic use exemptions" for amphetamines, known as "speed" on the street, had increased dramatically between 2005, when MLB's new drug policy went into effect, and last year. According to Tierney's figures, the number of players authorized to take amphetamines for treatment of attention deficit disorder had spiked from 28 in 2006 to 103 in 2007.
Neither MLB Commissioner Bud Selig nor Donald Fehr, executive director of the players' union, had a ready answer for Tierney, and talk soon turned to other matters. But the congressman's query ought to sound a warning for players and owners alike.
For one thing, are there that many major-league players suffering from ADD who need to take medication for it? And might drugs like Ritalin and Adderall, which contain amphetamines, be useful in other ways if you can get a doctor to prescribe them?
There was a time not that long ago when drugs taken to stimulate muscle growth were considered no big deal. Yet today, debate rages about the example this set for young athletes and whether records established by Barry Bonds and others in the "steroid era" should be accepted or declared null and void.
We suspect there have been other players in other times who have used artificial stimulants to enhance performance - alcohol to prompt a more aggressive stance at the plate, for instance, or chewing tobacco to calm one's nerves on the field. Which of the modern wonder drugs - there's one for whatever ails you, according to the pharmaceutical manufacturers' incessant TV commercials - might someday be viewed as unfairly affecting one's ability to hit or pitch the ball?
Baseball officials are no doubt hoping to put questions of steroid use quickly behind them. But the use of drugs and other performing-enhancing substances is going to require constant review and careful monitoring going forward.
The hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform focused on the use of steroids and human growth hormones by professional baseball players. But Tierney's question concerned drugs, which, unlike steroids and HGH, are still legal in the sport.
The North Shore congressman wanted to know why the number of "therapeutic use exemptions" for amphetamines, known as "speed" on the street, had increased dramatically between 2005, when MLB's new drug policy went into effect, and last year. According to Tierney's figures, the number of players authorized to take amphetamines for treatment of attention deficit disorder had spiked from 28 in 2006 to 103 in 2007.
Neither MLB Commissioner Bud Selig nor Donald Fehr, executive director of the players' union, had a ready answer for Tierney, and talk soon turned to other matters. But the congressman's query ought to sound a warning for players and owners alike.
For one thing, are there that many major-league players suffering from ADD who need to take medication for it? And might drugs like Ritalin and Adderall, which contain amphetamines, be useful in other ways if you can get a doctor to prescribe them?
There was a time not that long ago when drugs taken to stimulate muscle growth were considered no big deal. Yet today, debate rages about the example this set for young athletes and whether records established by Barry Bonds and others in the "steroid era" should be accepted or declared null and void.
We suspect there have been other players in other times who have used artificial stimulants to enhance performance - alcohol to prompt a more aggressive stance at the plate, for instance, or chewing tobacco to calm one's nerves on the field. Which of the modern wonder drugs - there's one for whatever ails you, according to the pharmaceutical manufacturers' incessant TV commercials - might someday be viewed as unfairly affecting one's ability to hit or pitch the ball?
Baseball officials are no doubt hoping to put questions of steroid use quickly behind them. But the use of drugs and other performing-enhancing substances is going to require constant review and careful monitoring going forward.
