Ephedra Banned in Minors

Major League Baseball took another step this week toward industry-wide restrictions on the use of ephedrine-based products by banning the use of the herbal supplement throughout the minor leagues.

The ban, which was implemented Monday and has been transmitted to the 30 major-league front offices over the last two days, covers all minor-league players not on 40-man major-league rosters.

Players on 40-man rosters are governed by Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, which does not include restrictions on the substance cited as a contributing factor in the Feb. 17 heatstroke death of 23-year-old Baltimore Oriole pitcher Steve Bechler.

The memo outlining the drug policy change, distributed by MLB deputy general counsel Jennifer Gefsky, informs clubs that ephedrine has been added to the list of substances prohibited in the minors and authorizes random testing to detect it.