Number of Baseball Players Taking ADD Drugs Spikes

Since baseball's 2006 ban on amphetamines, the number of players claiming to have Attention Deficit Disorder and obtaining prescriptions for stimulant drugs has nearly quadrupled from 28 to 103, reports the Associated Press. The MLB anti-performance enhancing policy gives the players exemptions on certain drugs, including Ritalin and Adderall, if obtained via a doctor's prescription. The new number represents 8.2% of the players tested.

By comparison, only 3-5% of children have ADD, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. "This demands an explanation. If we had this percentage increase in the general population, it would be on the evening news as a national epidemic," said an official with the World Anti-Doping Agency. The ADD numbers were revealed during yesterday's  congressional testimony on the Mitchell Report, which does not address amphetamine use. (More baseball stories.)