Professional athletes should be judged on their competitive ability and their character. Their marijuana use should not be considered a factor. Many professional athletes were exposed to it over the years.
Jon Singleton, first baseman, is one of these athletes. He has been suspended multiple times for marijuana use, and was out of Major League Baseball in recent seasons. Singleton is now making an inspiring comeback.
Singleton should be given a second chance at a career in professional baseball and a long-overdue apology from the league.
Singleton was drafted initially by the Philadelphia Phillies, in the 8th round. He was just out of high school when he was traded to the Houston Astros two years later. Many Major League Baseball (MLB), analysts considered him a rising star. He was eventually dropped by the Astros in 2018, and his return to the major leagues looked unlikely.
Singleton was banned three times during his first tenure as a professional baseball player. He had tested positive for marijuana. He was in his first season at Double-A when the initial incident took place in June 2012. He failed another drug test for marijuana later that year, in December 2012, and was then suspended for 50 games.
Singleton was subject to an evaluation by the league therapist as part of his MLB penalty for his second offense. This was followed by a month-long stay in an inpatient rehabilitation center. Singleton bounced back after the scandal and enjoyed the best season of all his career in 2014. However, Singleton failed another drug test in 2018, which resulted in a 100-game suspension.
Singleton’s years as a professional baseball player were accompanied by a wave in cannabis reform victories throughout the country. In 2009, marijuana was still illegal in all 50 states. In 2018, ten states had passed adult-use legalization measures. This number has risen to 21 today.
Between 2009 and today, the public’s perception of cannabis legalization is much better. Gallup polls voters every year to find out their opinions on cannabis legalization. The first poll was conducted in 1969, when only 12 per cent of participants supported legalization.
The support level had increased to 44% by 2009, but this was clearly still less than the majority. The most recent Gallup poll from 2022 found that 68% of voters believe cannabis should be legal to be used for adult purposes. A Pew Research Center poll in 2022 showed that only 10% of U.S. citizens believe cannabis should be made completely illegal .
Major League Baseball is among the leagues that have relaxed their stance on marijuana use by players. MLB took cannabis off its banned substances list in late 2019, just one year after Singleton was expelled from the league for using cannabis. The league is also now involved in the cannabis industry through a partnership agreement with Charlotte’s Web.
Singleton signed a minor-league contract last year with the Milwaukie Brewers, and is now pursuing a career as a professional baseball player. Last season, Singleton played at Triple-A Nashville, where he was a star, scoring 24 home runs and driving in 87 RBIs. He also had an on-base rate of.375. He also set a franchise record with 117 walks.
Singleton was selected to be part of the 40-person spring training roster after a productive season. It’s both tragic and inspiring at the same moment.
Singleton was robbed from the best years of his athletic career, regardless of whether he realizes it or the league. Singleton was not aware that cannabis is any more or less dangerous than when he entered the league. Singleton’s devotion to his craft and the cannabis plant did not change. Only the attitudes of society and politicians towards cannabis and its consumption have changed.
Like many other professional athletes who have been hurt by prohibitionist policies, Singleton was also subject to undue influence by the league he played for after violating its marijuana policy. After being shamed publically and privately, Singleton was forced to see a psychotherapist who declared him a “drug addict” and required him to stay in a facility for one month. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he had some old quotes from that time that suggested he agreed to the treatment he was receiving by the league.
Singleton’s recent comments seem to be a better representation of his true views regarding MLB’s previous cannabis policies.
Singleton said that his career would have been totally different in a recent interview. To be truthful, it would have been a complete 180. But times were different back then. Back then, people thought differently. It was strange that everyone was open about alcohol but had completely different opinions about marijuana.
Singleton doesn’t have to deal with that kind of nonsense anymore, but only after he has suffered so much and lost so many of his years in the professional sports world. Even though he didn’t get suspended, he was likely subject to a lot of stigma which negatively affected some of his opportunities. This is common in professional sports for athletes who were previously punished for using cannabis.
Clifford Robinson, a former NBA all-star, was in his last five years. I joined him as a partner to support him in reforming cannabis legislation in professional sports and state level politics. Robinson’s 18-year NBA career ended with him retiring. However, I witnessed firsthand the stigma and unapologetic use of cannabis in his past NBA seasons.
Robinson told me many times that he felt that he could have played more NBA seasons, that he wasn’t invited to as many NBA functions as the other retired all-stars and that the NBA leadership considered Robinson a “pothead” and denied him an opportunity to coach in any other post-playing role. Unfortunately, he will never get those opportunities.
Other elite athletes have had similar experiences in professional sports leagues, including Ricky Williams (ex-Heisman Trophy winner) and Nick Diaz (MMA fighter).
Williams’s National Football League (NFL), career, was not measured by his playing on the field but rather whether he had cannabinoids within his body fluids. Despite being the best running back of his generation, he was eventually thrown out of the league.
Nick Diaz’s case is truly shameful. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Nick Diaz for five years after he tested positive for marijuana during a fight with Anderson Silva at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC 183) in January 2015. The suspension of a fighter’s career by this regulatory body is a death blow, since most of the sport’s public events take place in Nevada. Diaz would fight again in UFC after his prime competitive years were taken away.
Singleton’s MLB comeback efforts are continuing to be bittersweet. It is admirable and inspiring to see his perseverance, but one cannot help but wonder how his career would have been if cannabis prohibition hadn’t negatively affected it. This goes far beyond the time he lost due to his suspensions. How would his career look if he were allowed to play baseball with no anti-cannabis policies? We will never know.
Prohibiting cannabis is harmful and wrong. This is true both inside and outside professional sports. While MLB might be right now, Singleton’s experience is a reminder of this.
MLB owes Jon Singleton more than a fair chance at his dreams. The league also owes Singleton a very public apology. This includes a public apology for any other player who was ever hurt by the league’s cannabis policies in the past.
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The post Jon Singleton Needs an Apology from Major League Baseball for His Marijuana Suspensions – Opinion Column appeared first at Marijuana Moment.
