Padres’ Cameron Maybin Suspended For PEDs, But There’s More To The Story

San Diego Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin is being suspended 25 games Major League Baseball for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs, but this doesn't involve steroids or HGH.

According various reports including USA Today, Maybin is taking a prescription for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and and though he needs it for a 'medical condition', as Maybin described it, the violation falls under the category of amphetamines.

USA Today reports that the first violation for this type of offense results in a warning. The second is a 25 game suspension. Maybin had this to say in a statement:

"I have been undergoing treatment for several years for a medical condition, attention deficit disorder (ADD), for which I previously had a therapeutic use exemption (TUE),'' Maybin said in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, in my attempts to switch back to a medicine that had been previously OK'd, I neglected to follow all the rules and as a result I tested positive.

He also says he will not appeal.

It's worth noting how MLB handles different types of violations of the drug policy. Had this been steroids or HGH, there would be no warning and would result in an automatic 50 game ban. A second violation would be 100 games, and a third time would likely mean a lifetime ouster from the MLB, pending appeals, etc.

I note the difference in the suspension length and that fact that a warning had been issued as a point of clarification, and justification in a sense.

It has almost become commonplace in the NFL that a player will test positive for a banned substance and be suspended and then come out a say I was taking Adderall and didn't know I couldn't, or something like that. Or, I was taking Adderall for my ADD. The league isn't allowed to come out and publicly say, 'No, player X was actually taking steroids or HGH.'

In other words, it's likely Maybin is telling the truth here. In most cases, drug violations in the NFL aren't over Adderall, or a similar treatment drug, it usually is a positive test for steroids, HGH or an agent that masks the use of such PEDs during a drug test.

(In case you're wondering, some leagues have banned Adderall and similar substances, unless there is a medical waiver because they can greatly improve concentration and focus, and are outlawed in many sports in the in the amphetamine category.)