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In January 2004, Major League Baseball announced a new drug policy which 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. 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.
The current penalties, adopted on March 28, 2014, are 80 games for a first offense, 162 games for a second offense, and a lifetime ban for a third. Players are also prohibited from participating in that year's post-season regardless of when their suspension is completed.