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 Chapter[ XI. Recommendations ]

 Section[ D. Recommendations for Further Improvement of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program                                                                                                                  ]                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

D. Recommendations for Further Improvement of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program

There have been a number of improvements in Major League Baseball’s drug

testing program since the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program became effective in

2003. Because of the constantly evolving nature of this problem, however, further improvements

are necessary.

As noted earlier, the clubs and the Players Association are under no obligation to

bargain, or even to discuss the joint program, until the current Basic Agreement expires in 2011.

Neither has the authority to change the current program unilaterally.

When the parties do address the drug testing program and related enforcement

issues, I urge them to make certain that their program is consistent with the following

principles.579 In the previous chapter, I described a number of concerns that have arisen with

579 The principles described below apply only to those aspects of the joint program that

are applicable to performance enhancing substances. I am not suggesting modifications to the

provisions of the program to the extent that it governs use of other drugs unrelated to athletic

performance.

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respect to Major League Baseball’s joint program. Where applicable, I also described the

initiatives adopted by the Commissioner and the Players Association to address these concerns.

It is not necessary for me to recommend even more detailed refinements to the

joint program. First, the details of specific operating procedures are best left to the discretion of

an independent program administrator who will have the benefit of all the relevant facts as of the

time the decision is to be made. Second, any changes in such procedures are likely to have a

limited period of utility given the dynamic nature of illegal drug use and of testing programs.

All drug program administrators face a never ending series of challenges, the

details of which are often not foreseeable. Accordingly, my recommendations address the

principles that parties should adopt in their drug program.

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