How Baseball’s Major and Minor Leagues Now Handle Marijuana

Major League Baseball’s cannabis rules used to be a tale of two worlds: lenient in the big leagues, unforgiving in the bus leagues. Today, the gap has narrowed dramatically, but there are still meaningful differences in how cannabis is handled between Major League and Minor League players.

One system, two tracks

MLB now operates a suite of policies that distinguish clearly between 40-man roster players and domestic minor leaguers. These include a Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, a Major League Alcohol and Marijuana Policy, a Minor League Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, a Minor League Alcohol and Marijuana Policy, and a stand-alone Cannabis Use Policy. These documents create parallel frameworks, but they’re not identical.

What changed in 2019–2020

The turning point came in late 2019, when MLB and the players’ union agreed to overhaul the Drugs of Abuse section of the Joint Drug Program. Natural cannabinoids—THC, CBD and marijuana—were removed from the official Drugs of Abuse list and shifted into an alcohol-style conduct program instead. At the same time, MLB and the union ended suspensions for marijuana use in the Minor League drug program and redirected attention toward opioid testing and treatment.

For Major Leaguers, cannabis no longer triggers random Drugs of Abuse testing. Instead, marijuana-related issues are handled like alcohol: clubs and the Commissioner’s Office can order evaluation, treatment, fines or discipline if a player’s cannabis use leads to problematic or unsafe conduct.

Minor League players: from harsh suspensions to conduct focus

Historically, non-40-man Minor Leaguers were subject to strict random testing for marijuana, with escalating suspensions for positive tests — a system that produced dozens of suspensions each year. After the 2019 changes, MLB stopped testing these players for marijuana and removed cannabis from the list of banned substances that automatically triggered discipline.

Today, domestic MiLB players are covered by a Minor League Alcohol and Marijuana Policy and a Joint Treatment Program that focuses on evaluation, counseling and intervention when a player’s use leads to misconduct or safety risks. The emphasis has shifted away from punitive sanctions and toward health and behavioral support.

So is there still a difference?

Functionally, cannabis is now treated similarly at both levels: it is no longer a primary target of random drug testing, and both MLB and MiLB rely on conduct-based discipline and treatment rather than automatic suspensions for simple use. However, important structural differences remain:

Who writes the rules: Major League policy is collectively bargained with the MLB Players Association, while Minor League players (except those on 40-man rosters) fall under league-driven programs.
Which policy applies: A player on the 40-man roster is governed by the Major League Joint Drug Program and MLB Alcohol and Marijuana Policy wherever he plays; a non-40-man minor leaguer follows the Minor League versions and the Joint Treatment Program.
Jurisdictional differences: Minor leaguers in foreign circuits such as the Dominican Summer League operate under separate drug and marijuana guidelines designed for those environments.

In short, the old sharp divide—lenient for established pros, punishing for prospects—has largely faded. Today, both Major and Minor League cannabis frameworks are converging on a health-and-conduct model that prioritizes player safety and responsibility over punishment.