I have never smoked pot. There's something that seems pretty weird about that these days, and I certainly feel like I'm in the minority. I had plenty of opportunities, and many of my best friends were hilarious potheads back in college, but I never felt the need when I could just grab a beer instead. That's not to say there's something wrong with pot, or that I'm better than those of you who have or do smoke up. I just feel like, before I get into discussing Astros prospect Jonathan Singleton, and his struggles with drugs and alcohol, I need to be upfront with you guys about my past (or, as it were, lack of one).
Jonathan Singleton, pot, and MLB’s questionable priorities
Major League Baseball’s rules don’t care about Jonathan Singleton’s problems any longer, all because of a promotion.
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Singleton, in a very revealing and personal interview with the AP’s Kristie Rieken, laid out how first pot, then booze threatened to derail his professional career, calling himself “a drug addict” who “couldn’t stop smoking weed” even after failing his second drug test. After a trip to rehab, a slow start prompted him to start drinking, “abusing alcohol as a substitute for marijuana, getting drunk almost every day and waking up hung over every morning.’ Predictably, that just compounded his problems at Triple-A Oklahoma City, and the 21-year old finished the year hitting .220/.340/.347 in almost 300 plate appearances for the team. After cleaning himself up this offseason, he excelled in the Puerto Rican League and reported to spring training in good shape and spirits.
Singleton, participating in MLB's 2012 Futures Game. Photo credit: H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY I have no interest in criticizing Singleton. He seems like a young man with problems, and I’m not sure if he’s addressing them effectively or not. That’s probably a matter best left to himself and his team, as they work together to help Singleton uncover, resolve, and overcome the reasons why he self-medicates. More than anything, we should just hope that Singleton can be healthy going forward and reach his potential as the Astros’ first baseman of the future.
What strikes me as utterly absurd about the entire situation, however, is that after testing positive twice for the drug, and enduring a 50-game suspension, Singleton isn’t being tested anymore. Once the Astros added him to their 40-man roster, Singleton was essentially shielded, as Major League Baseball doesn’t test its players for drug use without cause. Meanwhile, MLB continues to zealously test and suspend minor leaguers, who don’t have the same union privileges as their big league counterparts.
That's not to say that teams shouldn't be concerned about what their players are putting into their bodies. It's hard to imagine that Singleton's pot use made him better, after all. But when Major League Baseball suspended him, and when the Astros did little to monitor their prospect, he ran straight into the arms of another drug (one that's perfectly legal) that had serious repercussions for both his mental and physical health, and which definitely impaired his performance. Now? By his own admission, Singleton still is receiving almost no support for whatever physical or emotional pain drove him to use, and he's essentially free to return to his old habits any time he wants. You would think a club as smart as the Astros would have devised some strategy by now to deal with their young slugger, acquired for Hunter Pence and who is a major part of their rebuilding effort, but it doesn't sound as if they have.
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You would also think that, maybe, with more and more states legalizing pot outright, or at least granting medical exemptions, that Baseball would be less interested in maintaining the ridiculous double standard in their drug policies between the minor and major leagues.
If, indeed, pot is worth testing indiscriminately at the minor league level, push to do it in the majors as well. This isn’t something that Bud Selig can just snap his fingers and accomplish, of course. Like every rule governing player behavior, it has to be negotiated with the Players Association. I can understand why the MLBPA would not want their members to have to submit to random drug tests, but to protect players like Singleton, and to get them into a support system that can help them learn to make the choices that will protect their careers, you have to think it’s a concept worth exploring, even before the Collective Bargaining Agreement has to be renegotiated in 2016.
If it’s not worth that extra effort? Then just stop. For players like Singleton, being forced off of drugs without additional support seems to do more harm than good, making him more self-destructive and putting careers and lives in jeopardy. None of us want that.
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