When did MLB remove cannabis from its drug-testing program?

On December 12, 2019, MLB and the MLBPA jointly announced that "Natural cannabinoids (e.g., THC, CBD, and Marijuana) will be removed from the Program's list of Drugs of Abuse." Marijuana was reclassified to be treated equivalently to alcohol — not randomly tested for, but evaluable by the Joint Treatment Board for impairment at work or unlawful conduct.

What is the MLB-Charlotte's Web partnership?

On October 12, 2022, Charlotte's Web Holdings and MLB announced "a first of its kind exclusive multi-year strategic partnership," making Charlotte's Web "the first Official CBD of Major League Baseball." Per regulatory filings cited by BizWest, Charlotte's Web pays MLB $30.5 million in rights fees, plus 10% of gross revenue from MLB-branded products past $18 million in sales, plus approximately 6.11 million shares of common stock (about 4% of outstanding shares). All MLB-branded CBD must carry NSF Certified for Sport designation.

MLB Cannabis Policy 2026: Removed in 2019 + Charlotte's Web Deal

Q: How did Tyler Skaggs's death affect MLB cannabis policy?

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019; the medical examiner attributed death to alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone intoxication. Eric Kay, a 24-year Angels PR employee, was federally convicted in 2022 of distributing the fentanyl that resulted in death. The case directly motivated MLB's December 2019 pivot — which added opioids and cocaine to the testing panel while removing cannabis. Commissioner Rob Manfred publicly called Skaggs's death a "motivating factor."

Q: What is the "treatment-not-discipline" framework?

MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem framed the December 2019 change in terms of "principles of prevention, treatment, awareness and education." MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said players "want to take a leadership role in helping to resolve this national epidemic" of opioid deaths. Cannabis-positive players are referred to the Joint Treatment Board, not suspended.

MLB removed cannabis from drugs-of-abuse on Dec 12, 2019, treating it like alcohol. The Tyler Skaggs throughline, the $30.5M Charlotte's Web "Official CBD of MLB" partnership, and the treatment-not-discipline framework.

Status: Removed from the List Removed from list

On December 12, 2019, MLB and the MLBPA jointly announced a sweeping revision to the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The MLB statement read: "Natural cannabinoids (e.g., THC, CBD, and Marijuana) will be removed from the Program's list of Drugs of Abuse." Marijuana would be treated equivalently to alcohol — players are not randomly tested, but they can be evaluated by the Joint Treatment Board for impairment at work or unlawful conduct. Suspensions for marijuana were also dropped from the minor-league drug program (MiLB had previously seen 42 of 108 drugs-of-abuse suspensions in 2015 attributed to marijuana, illustrating the scale of pre-reform enforcement).

MLB was the first of the four major U.S. team-sport leagues to make this move — predating the NFL's March 2020 CBA reform by approximately three months and the NBA's full removal by more than three years.

The Tyler Skaggs Throughline

The December 2019 MLB-MLBPA announcement is impossible to read separately from the death of Tyler Skaggs. The 27-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher was found dead in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019; the medical examiner attributed death to alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone intoxication. Eric Kay, a 24-year Angels PR employee, was federally convicted in 2022 of distributing the fentanyl that resulted in death.

The case directly motivated MLB's pivot. The December 2019 announcement added opioids and cocaine to the testing panel while removing cannabis — an explicit recognition that the prior framework had been chasing the wrong substance. Commissioner Rob Manfred publicly called Skaggs's death a "motivating factor." For an alternative-substitution narrative on opioids and cannabis in pro sport, see the Eugene Monroe op-ed.

Treatment, Not Discipline

MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem framed the December 2019 change in terms of "principles of prevention, treatment, awareness and education." MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said players "want to take a leadership role in helping to resolve this national epidemic" of opioid deaths. The framing matters: MLB explicitly classified cannabis as a substance use matter to be addressed clinically, not a performance matter to be policed.

The Joint Treatment Board structure draws an explicit parallel to alcohol: a player who shows up to the ballpark impaired faces clinical referral, not suspension.

The MLB-Charlotte's Web Partnership

On October 12, 2022, Charlotte's Web Holdings (TSX: CWEB; OTCQX: CWBHF) and MLB jointly announced what the Charlotte's Web press release called "a first of its kind exclusive multi-year strategic partnership," making Charlotte's Web "the first 'Official CBD of Major League Baseball.'" Per BizWest (October 13, 2022), citing Charlotte's Web regulatory filings:

$30.5 million in rights fees over the life of the deal.
10% of gross revenue from MLB-branded products past $18 million in sales.
Approximately 6.11 million shares of Charlotte's Web common stock (around 4% of all outstanding shares) issued to MLB.

MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden noted: "Charlotte's Web products which receive the NSF Certified for Sport designation have met the highest safety standards." The NSF requirement is the part of the deal that matters most for athletes — it operationalizes the NSF Certified for Sport standard as the floor for any MLB-branded CBD. Individual MLB clubs (the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs) had previously signed local CBD partnerships, but the Charlotte's Web deal is the league-wide official designation.

Pre-Reform Admissions and the Long Cannabis Lineage

Cannabis had a long, openly-discussed history in MLB clubhouses well before the December 2019 reform. Pre-reform admissions and citations include:

David Wells — openly discussed cannabis use throughout his career.
Gary Sheffield — public admissions about pre-game cannabis use.
Tim Lincecum — 2009 citation.
Joel Zumaya — cannabis-related discipline.
Jeremy Jeffress — multiple suspensions; later a vocal medical-use advocate.
Bill "Spaceman" Lee.
Dock Ellis — whose 1970 LSD no-hitter is the more famous story, but who was openly a cannabis user throughout his career.

For comparison with the NFL's still-tested but softened framework, see NFL Cannabis Policy; for the NBA's 2023 full removal, see NBA Cannabis Policy; for the in-competition WADA framework that MLS still operates under, see WADA & Olympics.