BOSTON -- The legal use of certain prescription drugs in Major League Baseball has gotten the attention of a Massachusetts representative.

NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported Wednesday that the Mitchell report focused on steroids and baseball, but the hearings also revealed a startling spike in the use of drugs such as Adderall, which is commonly prescribed for attention deficit disorder.

"If the same leap happened in the general population, we'd have a crisis on our hands. We'd have an epidemic," Rep. John Tierney said.

In 2006, there were 35 therapeutic use exemptions for drugs -- 28 of those for ADD/ADHD medications. One year later, the numbers skyrocketed to 111 -- 103 for ADD/ADHD.

Tierney said that he wants to know why.

"We want to make sure that people aren't using that exemption or exclusion as an end runaround performance enhancing drug use," he said.

Psychiatrists said they understand why some players might be attracted to these drugs.

"They certainly do increase energy, focus and attention. Those are things that are helpful in sports," said Dr. Michael Hirsch, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The league said it's trying to break down the reasons behind the increase.

"Medical things are very confidential, and they're not shared with managers, coaches. They're not supposed to be, so the numbers that come out, how they come out, why they come out, when they come out -- I don't think I'm supposed to be privy to that," Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said.

"It's that radical a jump, so clearly the league and the players have to look at it and have to put something in place other than what they have now," Tierney said.