The number of positive illicit drug tests returned by AFL players has increased, league boss Gillon McLachlan says.

“I think I could say that they’re up,” McLachlan told Fairfax Radio when asked if positive drug tests in the 2014 season were higher than the year before.

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But he said the increase is “not huge”.

The drug `ice’ is not the behind the rise, McLachlan said, suggesting others drugs were more commonly taken.

“Ice specifically is not pervasive or a problem (for the AFL),” he said on Friday.

“It’s not, per se, the drug being used.

“It’s a huge problem in our community.

“I think the issue at elite level is different to the community.”

McLachlan said the full statistics on drug use for the 2014 AFL season will be released in the coming weeks.

In 2013, 15 players tested positive for illicit drugs from 1998 tests.