Workplace drug testing ...... a must have

I suppose it all depends on what your job/career is. There are/would be jobs that require a person to be drug/alcohol free, either for safety's sake or professionalism.

IMHO - most people replying have either inadvertantly or deliberatly missed the point entirely .

IF all employment contracts had a substance abuse clause and mandartory testing

only the truelly insane would continue to indulge in ` recreational drug use `

thats what i believe the OP was implying

and of course the next level = substance abuse clauses and testing for all benefits claimants

They give us drugs to make us better workers, coffee. Why would they want to test for something they know we have in our system? Why would they want to fire half the staff for the other drugs?

If a person can do drugs and still hold a job, who cares if their having fun or not doing the job.

If they come in unresponsive, sluggish, or aggressive (alchohol), they should be punished accordingly. Can't do drugs and hold a job? Choose one or the other then. If you can do both well - Good for you.

We don't need more government regulations. I'm sick of living in a nanny state.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
IMHO - most people replying have either inadvertantly or deliberatly missed the point entirely .

IF all employment contracts had a substance abuse clause and mandartory testing

only the truelly insane would continue to indulge in ` recreational drug use `

thats what i believe the OP was implying

and of course the next level = substance abuse clauses and testing for all benefits claimants

No... The users of illegal medicines and drugs of choice would find ways around such anti-freedom, repressive action.

My question is, of course... What is inherently wrong with altering one's consciousness?

And why should an employer care unless the worker is not performing up to par or creating a scene?

Who claims to have the "moral" high ground on using drugs?

reply to post by radarloveguy


What exactly do you mean by drugs? Caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, valium, cannabis, heroin? Or is your definition of 'addict' someone that is addicted to illegal drugs?

I guess from the tone of your post that you aren't addicted to any drug yourself?

As long as the worker isn't doing drugs on the job, I really don't see the problem. No employer should have the right to dictate what you do in the privacy of your own home or your free time. Drug testing as a prerequisite for a job assumes everyone is a criminal and a liability to the employer until proven otherwise. It's ridiculous and it goes to ridiculous lengths.

Just to correct a statement earlier in this thread about a drug test and marijuana. I've heard Dr. Drew Pinsky (addiction medicine specialist) speak of this many times on the loveline radio show over the years and my own psychologist echoed this statement. I'll just give an example.

Let's say someone hasn't used marijuana for one month, then decides to smoke one Saturday night. That user, provided he does not smoke again in the following time window, will be clean in 3-4 days and NOT 30-60 days. That time frame only applies to people who smoke heavily on a daily basis. This does not apply to the occasional user. If he were to smoke Saturday and Sunday, you'd expect more like 5-6 days and if we're talking literally only one single toke per day, it would be less time in both time frames. It's all a matter of how much you smoke and how often you do it. Again, this from an addiction medicine specialist and a psychologist. I've yet to see this information on the internet, but I guess it's a better deterrent to make people think one day will keep you dirty for 1-2 months instead of 3-4 days or less.

I totally disagree with any drug testing, by employer or government (except in cases where being intoxicated would be dangerous, ie. pilots, drivers, etc). The only criteria should be whether or not the employee is performing his duties to acceptable standards. Don't try to legislate morality.

Interesting those who say drug testing is a good thing.

I remember the police wanted powers to take blood samples from motorists for any reason.... HELL NO I'LL KILL THEM BEFORE I SUBMIT - were the cries.

Oh but they can have my pee... That's OK!!



If I do my job, are not a detriment to others work, keep your snout out of my business.

As someone above said, Poppy seeds test positive for opiate use. Let's not go into the plethora of OTC medications that also result in false negatives.

Naltrexone results in a false negative, so anyone on it for either alcohol dependancy or opiate addiction would lose their job unless they could convince the employer to retest knowing to check for nalt.

Drug testing... One more way to take away personal freedom.



[edit on 30/11/2009 by Ha`la`tha]

This system is all jacked up. As a pot user and I do smoke every single day for the past 3-4 years and more recently cause of personal injury, which in my opinion and experience is way better than in using any other drug or liquor,unlike liquor, I could smoke the whole day and go to sleep fine and wake up without a problem or without feeling dumbed down and sh|tty (hangovers)and still be able to do what i gotta do even if i smoke in the morning (run,workout,working,being on my feet,lifting things,moving around,etc)so now lets see if the same thing happens to a person that is drinking all day unless you an alky and just used to that poison drink....so you can go on and say your little negative opinions about it for all I care but the truth is..

all this drug testing is a waste and something to label a person which they are not. What they do on their personal time is up to them but as long as you go into the workplace and do your job, high or not, but you doing your work the best way as everyone else then that pre-employment drug test (which could be beat) is wrong and useless esp. that random test crap when you doing your work to the fullest and right,

NOW if a person that do drugs or even drink the night before or the same day as work goes into work and is not be able to focus on their work and do it right then YOU SHOULDNT BE DOING NONE OF THAT and SHOULDNT go to work in that state if you aint strong enough to overpower your mind and whatever u have inside of you but if you do go to work in that state and you show signs of messing up or already messed up then that person should be questioned and/or even drug tested even suspended or fired.

[edit on 30-11-2009 by MilzGatez]

well I am a retired bartender but I've always said,and you can quote me on this.

If you can't do your job drunk you can't do your job.
you can replace drunk with high or tweeking or whatever.
I'd rather a drunk professional than a sober amateur.
obviously a sober professional is best.

now people are going to start babbling about drunk surgeons and high pilots and such.
you can simply have a sobriety check for these delicate jobs.
make them recite the alphabet backwards in swahili or something.

government may be a necessary evil (I'm still not sure about this,still thinking on it)but we should at least keep it as small an evil as possible.

no need for godzilla when chucky will do.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- Benjamin Franklin

Sure, what we need to do is to give away more of our freedoms so that we can be good little corporate servants. Um, no thanks! I think I'll take a pass on participating in that little scheme. There are plenty of slave drivers... er, I mean corporations that do drug test - go work for one of them!

I could make the point to why anyone would use drugs???Are you hiding from the world or escaping from life???At my place of work its the mood swings in dealing with some of you.
I have co-workers high as a kite working on gas lines!!!If daddy gets blown up are you going to support my kids???

Originally posted by fishing
I could make the point to why anyone would use drugs???Are you hiding from the world or escaping from life???

That's irrelevant, people use drugs for different reasons, weather it's escapism, or just to get high.
The issue is that if it affects your job performance or if you are high on the job then it can be an issue, because it's a problem.
The issue should not be getting fired because you smoked a doobie after work or last Saturday, that does not make you impaired at work, a drug test shows what you did, not what you are doing now.

Why a person uses, who cares.

Anybody who tests positive for prescription depression medication is not qualified to work...

They must go!

reply to post by radarloveguy


Someone put it right before I did. You can't want a smaller government and then propose something like this.

Portugal I think decriminalized possession of small amounts of all drugs, and I haven't heard of any beheading's or such a drug problem as we have here in the US.

It is the culture of the USA that puts it at such risk. You can't say "Don't do..." then expect large numbers of people not to gravitate toward it. This is a concept of NLP. Also, research and find articles that the CIA smuggles in drugs. Classic case of the government presenting the problem then offering the propaganda to promote it...then the penalties when you get into it.

Originally posted by Kratos1220
That user, provided he does not smoke again in the following time window, will be clean in 3-4 days and NOT 30-60 days. That time frame only applies to people who smoke heavily on a daily basis.

Hmm, maybe the doctor should be more clear in his statements - he appears to be talking about urine tests.

A hair test will detect cannabis use up to 90 days after use, heavy user or not.

Drug tests are very easy to fool. Competency tests are not. I am for competentcy testing. Strangly enough, pot tends to make workers safer.

reply to post by ignorant_ape


hey, why stop there? if we microchipped the entire population, only the 'insane' would try to commit crimes?

and hey - if we tied everyone's tubes when they were born, and then made them pass tests to reproduce, we could control overpopulation!


we are human beings, nor worker drones. there is more to life than workplace productivity, and believe it or not, for some people, recreational use of plants and so forth, makes them HAPPY.

is something wrong with fun for the sake of fun? must workplace productivity trump all other human desires or needs?


hey, just thought of another one - why don't we equip everyone with little collars that zap them if they stay up past their bed time? a tired worker is a less productive worker!

reply to post by ignorant_ape


hey, why stop there? if we microchipped the entire population, only the 'insane' would try to commit crimes?

and hey - if we tied everyone's tubes when they were born, and then made them pass tests to reproduce, we could control overpopulation!


we are human beings, nor worker drones. there is more to life than workplace productivity, and believe it or not, for some people, recreational use of plants and so forth, makes them HAPPY.

is something wrong with fun for the sake of fun? must workplace productivity trump all other human desires or needs?


hey, just thought of another one - why don't we equip everyone with little collars that zap them if they stay up past their bed time? a tired worker is a less productive worker!