Jeffress at it again, suspended 100 games; Latest -- Agent Audio Link

[JJHardy7]

I have a hard time believing he got down on himself and started smoking again over despair from his demotion... chances are he wanted to start smoking again and thought he could mask it somehow, maybe he was masking it all along, maybe his circle of friends he spends time with in the off-season are big smokers... the variables here are pretty litmitless... the point is that Jeffress seems like a bright kid in his interviews, so to think that he'd just light up without considering the consequences seems like quite a stretch to me. I could be wrong, but my gut impression is there's more to the story than a kid who made a couple of poor choices, this wreaks of deliberate intent to me.

So...we should keep trying to figure it out by posts like yours? That doesn't make any sense to me. There's no need to speculate at all IMO. We flat out don't know why, how, or when any of this happened.

[TheCrew07]

I'm not trying to waste my time figuring out exactly what was going on, I don't care. I've dealt with enough kids over the years that this chain of events with Jeffress makes me uneasy. I'm not dwelling on speculation, we'll likely never know the full details of what happened with him, I simply stated that this is no longer a random act of indiscretion or a random bad decision, and believing it to be so is pretty naive in my opinion.

 

I don't really care "why" at all, I care that he's been suspended for a second time, after pitching poorly most of the season. His actions demonstrate to me a lack of commitment, which is a cause of great concern to me. The Brewers are in a tough spot, they have try and help him for a variety of reasons, but in the end the only thing that matters is what's going on in Jeffress' head, and I don't like where he appears to be mentally given these recent revelations.

 

He's not a lost cause yet, but I'm going to call a spade a spade when I see it. If others want to make excuses for the lad that's their business, I simply choose to go a different way.

[LouisEly]

The vast majority of marijuana users exclusively use marijuana.

 

That is true. But that's not what I said. While the vast majority of marijuana users exclusively use marijuana, what I said is that the vast majority of people who use more serious drugs (like TheCrew07 mentioned) started with marijuana.

 

And if almost 100% of the marijuana sold in the US is grown in the Midwest, then where is all the marijuana and other drugs that thousands of people in Mexico (and some in Arizona and Southern California) are getting killed over going to?

[TooLiveBrew]

what I said is that the vast majority of people who use more serious drugs (like TheCrew07 mentioned) started with marijuana.

 

I will admit I could be wrong, but I really thought this has been shown untrue. Not that users of other drugs don't use or haven't used weed, but that it is some sort of huge gateway drug.

[UeckerAddict]

what I said is that the vast majority of people who use more serious drugs (like TheCrew07 mentioned) started with marijuana.

 

I will admit I could be wrong, but I really thought this has been shown untrue. Not that users of other drugs don't use or haven't used weed, but that it is some sort of huge gateway drug.

Many criminologists have come to the conclusion that, while it is true most hard drug users smoked weed, this does not entail a correlation. Most hard drug users also smoked cigarettes, drank beer, drank milk, ate macaroni and cheese, watched television, etc. at some point in their lives. Most hard drug users would have been willing to take any and every drug- could you imagine someone saying "I shoot heroin, but no way would I ever mess with weed"?

 

It's like saying most major leaguers used to play tee-ball, but tee-ball is by no means some large gateway into the major leagues.

[bjkrautk]

http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?t=7723?page=1

 

Just in case anyone wants to compare their thoughts on the 50 game suspension to the 100-gamer.

[TheCrew07]

ha, the exact same conversation for the most part.

 

Weed shouldn't be illegal, blah, blah, blah.../it's not the weed it's the decision making blah, blah, blah

[Never Outhustled]

I hope this thread gets locked, it has nothing to do with baseball.

[Kricket755]

Only a really conservative, closed minded, uneducated on drugs person can sit here and try to claim that a 21 years old career and future is doomed and over because he gets high.

 

Geezy, nothing that hasnt been said already here, but most people here aren't just condemning the use of weed, but the consequences in this situation. If JJ knew there was a potential 100 game suspension waiting for him if he watched "Everybody Loves Raymond", then I hope he would refrain from doing so, even if he enjoyed it and found nothing morally wrong with it. To me, it seems like the consensus is more his foolishness and disregard for any future consequences is more potentially threatening to himself than the actualy drug use.

 

From a baseball perspective, making the huge assumption that he turns everything around and "grows up" a little, what is his best case scenarion for him making it to the show? Even out of the bullpen, 2011 is probably all we can ask for at this point.

[Invader3K]

More info from Haudricourt: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/49460602.html

 

"We just learned today that Jeffress actually has tested positive three times under the Minor League Drug Treatment and Prevention program. For "drugs of abuse," which for Jeffress has been marijuana, you don't get a suspension for a first offense. You do for performance-enhancing drugs.

 

So, Jeffress got a warning and education for a first offense, 50 games for a second offense and now 100 games for a third offense. And, as I reported in the fall of 2007, Jeffress also failed a club-administered test while he was serving the 50-game suspension under the minor league program."

[BKBucky_2_2]

That is true. But that's not what I said. While the vast majority of marijuana users exclusively use marijuana, what I said is that the vast majority of people who use more serious drugs (like TheCrew07 mentioned) started with marijuana.

 

And if almost 100% of the marijuana sold in the US is grown in the Midwest, then where is all the marijuana and other drugs that thousands of people in Mexico (and some in Arizona and Southern California) are getting killed over going to?

The vast majority of people who use more serious drugs also started with breast milk. Uh oh, gateway feeding!!!!

[Hammer]

Back to the baseball related conversation...I want to punch my computer every time I see the suspension mentioned. I would have given anything to have JJeff's talent...but this punk cant stay away from pot for a couple of years to play baseball. Really, I would like to beat him with a plastic cooking spoon for this. JJeff...you are wasting your life and our time by being an idiot.

[dlk9s]

I have a better chance of winning the lottery than Jeffress does at truly turning his life around.

 

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/439/fuknogf9pr7.gif

[UeckerAddict]

A picture says 1,000 words. Very nice.

[True CryM]

Katuluu[/b]]it has been shown that most people who have problems with drugs much more severe than marijuana (cocaine, heroin, etc.) started with marijuana, and when the high of marijuana (or the lure of making money from selling it) wasn't good enough for them anymore they moved on to bigger and more dangerous things.

 

Not sure if this was covered or not, but this is actually untrue. The vast majority of marijuana users exclusively use marijuana. Alcohol is a far more frequent gateway drug. Also, you can test positive for using marijuana as much as a month after smoking it, and possibly even longer.

 

Other interesting notes, one third of the US population has smoked marijuana. 20 million smoke it a year. 2 million smoke it every day. Almost 100% of all marijuana sold in the US is grown in the Midwest, and it is estimated to be the largest cash crop in the US by a wide margin (estimated worth of $25 billion, compared to $19 billion for corn. For further comparison, estimated worth of apples? $1 billion.). Marijuana is also one of the few things that you can be tried simultaneously at local, state and federal level, meaning you can get three separate convictions for one incident. Also, 700,000 people are arrested every year for marijuana possession. That's more then any other drug.

 

All these facts and more can be found in the trio of essays called Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation). I highly recommend reading it.

There's misleading information here. In "Reefer Madness" Schlosser says that Marijuana users are more likely to experiment later with psychoactive drugs, but a direct cause-and-effect relationship has yet to be proven. So there is a correlation, but not a definite conclusion.

 

Schlosser also states that 25 to 50 percent of marijuana used in the US is grown here, not almost 100%.

 

Finally, Schlosser states that "plausible estimates" of the marijuana crop range from 4 billion to 25 billion. A median value of 14.5 billion is a more accurate approximation of an inaccurate measurement.

[Mass Haas]

Jeffress' agent Josh Kushnick (agent39) was a guest on the D-List Tuesday during their segment with Tom Haudricourt.

 

Audio link

[southpaw121505]

It's completely mind blowing to me that this kid is continually hurting his development and jeopardizing such a golden opportunity. This isn't his second time being caught, it's his fourth. That's pathetic, I'm sorry. Gotta wonder how much he actually cares about baseball if after being caught 3 times he hasn't had a lightbulb moment that says wow maybe I should chill out for a while. And I don't even have a problem with weed, I used to smoke some, my friends do, it's not really dangerous. That's not the point though, if it's something that can keep you from playing and getting better(doing your job) then you need to refrain from doing it for the time being. I also think claiming the addiction route is so weak. It's not physically addicting and he's in such a fortunate spot because of his god given talent that with any will power he should be able to see that he's messing up, really bad. He's not addicted because he has an addictive personality, he's making stupid decisions and by claiming addiction it's just making excuses for him.

[Invader3K]

I also think claiming the addiction route is so weak. It's not physically addicting and he's in such a fortunate spot because of his god given talent that with any will power he should be able to see that he's messing up, really bad. He's not addicted because he has an addictive personality, he's making stupid decisions and by claiming addiction it's just making excuses for him.

 

I agree. People make their own choices in life, ultimately, and he's made quite a string of bad ones. And the most frustrating thing is that he's made the same bad choice over and over.

[southpaw121505]

Exactly, I think in most cases people deserve second chances. But he failed once to get a warning, twice to get suspended, three times when he was caught by the Brewers during his suspension and how his FOURTH time. After missing that many games and then being caught by the Brewers during that suspension how on earth does a light bulb not go off?

[logan82]

So are you guys trying to say that there is no such think as a mental addiction?

[True CryM]

logan3825[/b]]So are you guys trying to say that there is no such think as a mental addiction?

I don't think anyone is claiming there isn't such thing as mental addiction, but as far as addictive things go, marijuana is pretty low on the list. I could be mentally addicted to BF.net, but it would be much harder to quit cigarettes or alcohol - things that have physiological evidence supporting their addictiveness.

[logan82]

I think they are. It keeps getting repeated that it is just a stupid decision and that it isnt' physically addictive so that claiming addiction is lame. A mental addiction has been dismissed repeatedly. A gambling or alcohol addiction is believable, but nobody can be mentally addicted to marijuana?

[marty22]

very interesting note from TH in the link with Jeffress's Agent:

 

if he were on the 40-man roster, he couldnt be tested for "drugs of abuse" because that is a clause written into the CBA for the MLBPA. It's kind of unethical, but I hope the brewers add him this offseason

[southpaw121505]

I just have no sympathy for that and see that as an excuse because if that truly was the case, he has the money and the opportunity to get serious help. People a lot less fortunate than him, with a lot less of a support system around him have overcome a lot more difficult things. If he wanted to change and fix this, he could.

[Godspeed]

very interesting note from TH in the link with Jeffress's Agent:

 

if he were on the 40-man roster, he couldnt be tested for "drugs of abuse" because that is a clause written into the CBA for the MLBPA. It's kind of unethical, but I hope the brewers add him this offseason

If that is indeed the case, the Brewers almost have to add him to the 40-man this offseason to protect their investment. He would have to be added in 2010, so this would be adding him a year early.