ADHD Exemption And Stimulant Use In Baseball?

Most of you are aware that the long-awaited Mitchell report on the illegal use of steroids and humane growth hormone in Major League baseball came out yesterday. The report names 80 current and former Major Leaguers as having used or possessed the banned substances, future Hall of Famers such as Roger Clemens and on down. It's a discouraging report, which also briefly mentions the suspected use of stimulants among ball players. That's something the San Diego Union-Tribune has been onto for a while, reporting in May that:

"Baseball players may have unabashedly used amphetamines hoping they wouldn't get caught and knowing even if they did, they'd get a free pass for the first positive test.

"Another variable is TUEs, or therapeutic use exemptions. The most common treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is amphetamines, and several sources have told the Union-Tribune that numerous baseball players had obtained such medical waivers allowing them to use amphetamines."

The basic idea of stimulant use in baseball is:

"Boosts energy, masks pain and fatigue, enhances alertness, sharpens focus, increases heart rate. Says BALCO doping guru Victor Conte: 'Reaction time, batting, focus, concentration--stimulants have a tremendously powerful effect on performance.'"

So an ADHD exemption allows some players to hide stimulant use in the MLB? Wow. I wonder what Robert Spitzer would say. I guess Pete Rose's legacy is looking better and better every day.