Random drug testing
shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
I'm just curious. I see quite a few members saying that they use pot and or other drugs. Are you working in jobs where drug and or alcohol testing is never done. During the last 20+ years of my working career I was subjected to random testing by the F.A.A.. At first they were testing 50% of the employees and not busting anyone. That gradually got reduced that to I think 5% per year. During those testing years I was called on to go piss in the jar about 20 times. During that same period I did see one case of a false positive and it was traced to poppy seed buns. The company did have a zero tolerance policy but I do know of one guy that got a second chance and wound up getting fired for cocaine. The union rep told me once, that they were not testing for marijuana but I never wanted to test that policy.
Now that I am no longer working and subject to testing, I have no desire to take it up. I prefer to get my highs from interaction with strippers.
Now that I am no longer working and subject to testing, I have no desire to take it up. I prefer to get my highs from interaction with strippers.
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18 comments
If someone is acting unusual, then test them (proper concern) or fire them.
But don't put me through the wringer for someone else's fuck up.
In some states you can be arrested for smoking cigarettes but not pot WTF??
I am against drug testing. It infringes on people's rights, and it serves no useful purpose. The war on drugs was conceived in a time of hysteria about the evils of all drug use. The war has cost billions of dollars and filled up our prisons with non-violent offenders, but people still use drugs.
It's an annoyance and I occasionally miss drugs, mainly pot. I've slipped up a few times and taken a hit or two in the right circumstances but I try not to push my luck.
But it's not the same with pot. First of all, even if pot is now legal at the state level in some states, it's still illegal everywhere in the US at the federal level.
Beyond that, according to this article: http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/09/news/eco…, only Arizona and Delaware have laws on the books protecting workers from being fired for failing a drug test.
Everything I've read suggests that, in general, employers can still fire you for smoking pot even if it's legal (at the state level) and even though you're not high at work.
To pass a possibility test for pot you basically need to be clean for 3 days. No one pays to have hair follicles analyzed by mass spec.
The fact is, if what you do on your spare time doesn't affect your job, who cares? If it does, it's easier to just eliminate the position for made up reasons than face a potential wrongful termination suit.
I compare it to booze. If you're coming to work drunk, that's a problem. If you're pounding a case every weekend? Not my problem until you start showing up late and hung over monday.
If I want to experience a high, I can get it naturally by exercising heavy for an hour or longer. no worry about illegal drugs that way. I'd probably lose weight too.
Can't remember all the tests I've had, many for government clearance. The last two were after a traffic accident in my company vehicle. Both times, I was stopped and got hit in the back and I still had to take the test. Doesn't bother me.
One I took for the DoD. I was called in right after lunch. I asked the woman if they tested for beer. She thought it quite funny. During the interview I was even asked about strip clubs. I wondered at the time if they already knew I went to them or not. I said I did, but asked why it mattered. They were concerned I could be compromised. I would have been if the Chinese needed some secret!
Depending on your level of use, it takes 8-12 weeks for THC and the other cannabinoids that are screened by gas chromatography tests to leech out of your myelin. (That's the fatty that surrounds your nerves and the white matter in your brain). If you have a job where that's an issue, you're an idiot for even thinking about using pot. I personally wouldn't care about the pot, but I would care about an employee who is an idiot.
For myself, I would not want to build up any sort of a work force unless I knew the people personally, and this means knowing their habits and tendencies.
The other way is what I call, "Federal Express Drivers". I don't want to be dealing with such people and I would never want them representing any company I was responsible for, let alone driving it's vehicles on the roads.
SJG