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In February 2004, Major League Baseball announced a new drug policy which originally included random, offseason testing and 10-day suspensions for first-time offenders, 30 days for second-time offenders, 60 days for third-time offenders, and one year for fourth-time offenders, all without pay, in an effort to curtail performance-enhancing drug use (PED) in professional baseball. This policy strengthened baseball's pre-existing ban on controlled substances, including steroids, which has been in effect since 1991.[1] The policy was to be reviewed in 2008, but under pressure from the U.S. Congress, on November 15, 2005, players and owners agreed to tougher penalties; a 50-game suspension for a first offense, a 100-game suspension for a second, and a lifetime ban for a third.
In December 2009, Sports Illustrated named baseball's steroid scandal of performance-enhancing drugs as the number one sports story of the decade of the 2000s.[2]
The current penalties, adopted on March 28, 2014, are 80 games for a first offense, 162 games for a second offense, and a permanent suspension ("lifetime ban") for a third.[3] Players are also ineligible from participating in the post-season the same year they receive a suspension, regardless of when their suspension is completed, unless the penalty is reduced on appeal.[4] Players receiving a permanent suspension would be able apply to the Commissioner of Baseball for reinstatement after one year, which, if granted, can occur not sooner than two years after the suspension started.[3]