I completely understand the points you are making, Shannon, and for certain jobs I can see the need (perhaps police, firefighter, EMT worker, etc.) but working in a museum is not one of them. I have several problems with the drug testing in anycase. The first being that the current drug tests often yield false positives, and very convincing ones at that.
The tests can only test for what the body breaks the drug down into, but the body breaks many non-drugs into the same substance. The classic example is the person eating a poppyseed bagel and testing positive for morphine and other related drugs. And as a false positive, it is very convincing and yet entirely false for the illegal substance; the substances being tested for were there, they just didn't have the origin that was expected. Why? Because they all come from the poppy. This is a well known example and watched out for since poppyseeds are completely legal and commonly eaten. Other related substances are not so well known to the public and some are still not recognized by the testers.
Sometimes you don't remember what *legal* drugs you took recently (ever wake up in the middle of the night with menstral cramps, take a handful of painkillers, fall back to sleep, and in the morning not be sure if you did take anything and if so how much?). This is important too because many of them test positive as illegal substances. How many did you take? When? What is your metabolic rate? If you didn't take and illegal drug, then the amount of substance measured should correspond with what their tables claim you should have in your system after taking the legal substance. There don't seem to be too many "average" people, most are well above or well below. Besides the human body is not completely understood and there are more mysteries in its fuctioning than a bureaucrat (and his list of what is and is not legal) can handle.
Then there are other problems: certain drugs are illegal in some countries and not in others. It is your first day back to work after your vacation in Holland (you returned yesterday and no longer feel the effects of your trip) and you get a random drug test. You did nothing illegal on your vacation. You test positive for certain illegal substances. So, your actions on vacation in another country are actionable in this country? I don't think so.
And after they start all of this drug testing and you accept it, what will they do next? Test everyone for pregnancy (test the men too, can't discriminate that way) and fire (or not hire) those who come up positive since they are going to lose productivity for several months, probably take an extended leave of absence, cost us money in terms of healthcare, and not be sleeping well when they return? How about test everyone on Monday mornings for alcohol in the blood stream because if they drink on the weekends, they will probably drink other nights, eventually become an alcoholic, then be non-productive, etc. Hey, how about smokers? They will all get cancer, become less productive, require lots of healthcare benefits, etc. This may sound crazy to you, but worse has happened in the recent history of the world and country.
This thread began with the sudden implementation of a random drug testing policy. You mention drug testing on commencement of employment. They are different things. You can decide not to take a job if they require testing and it shouldn't affect your life too much (just continue your job search). Having been at a job you love that suddenly requires it is very different. They already know if you are productive or not (your claims below) so your arguments in that respect fall flat in this case.
Angela Putney, Ph.D.
Physics Management Fellow
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740
Phone: 301-209-3135
Fax: 301-209-3133
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>>> Shannon Berg <[log in to unmask]> 05/12 2:16 PM >>>
I understand that there is quite a lot of talk about drug testing for
employees. I would like to add my comment to this forum...
DRUGS ARE ILLEGAL. If you are not a law abiding citizen, do you not
believe that an employer has the right to know? Do you not understand that
drugs can have make a major impact on the productivity of ones work?
Furthermore, if one is a drug user, and can not lay off the drugs long
enough to take a test for an upcoming position for employment, this may be
an indication that there is an even greater problem, the person may be an
addict, hence a downfall of problems would then follow.
Yes, we all have our right to privacy, however, you are hired by a company
to be productive and mentally capable of handling the position offered. If
you can not even stay off drugs long enough to clean out your system to
take a stupid drug test, you obviously are not the type of person that an
employer looks for. Is it fair to have them hire you without a drug test,
and then find out 2 weeks later that you are a junkie who is not capable of
performing the duties expected of them?
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