ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Drug Testing

I agree with Reno and Trollog. We have urine test upon employment and if you have an accident in a company vehicle, im in total support of them.

As to the 4th and 5th amendments, As far as I know the Constitution applies to the government only, not private individuals or businesses. Plus they are not forcing you to take a drug test, you are free not to and they are free to hire someone else.

Usually these drug tests are required BY the government.

If your company has a strong anti-drug policy w/testing, your workmen's comp can go as low as a .62 multiplier and general liability and vehicle ins. cost will also be reduced.

Sam

Quote:

"I think everytime I have interviewed for a job. (I have heard this from other people too) I get asked in the interview if I would be opposed to taking a drug test, but they never get around to actually getting one done..."

I would be willing to take any drug test confidently--
What would you like to know?
I could probably answer any question pertaining to any drug available since 1975.

What? OHH! That kind of drug test?!

Never mind!

Government employees are not covered by fourth amendment rights, many times cases have been trumped by "National Security" claims, and the general answer now is that you have the right to quit if you don't like drug testing.
Personally, I don't have an issue with drug testing as long as a new hire is told the policy and accepts it prior to starting employment. In my case the gov. waited 24 years before they dusted off an executive order from Ronald Reagon and started testing.
Employers should be up front about it and employees should know the reasons.

If I had to do mandatory drug tests on my employees, they both would fail....guaranteed.

I know for a fact that one of my employees smokes pot on a daily basis after work. He's a hard worker and does the job right. He's been working for me for almost a year, and he's never missed a day of work, nor is he ever late. I have yet to receive a complaint from a customer about him.

A previous employee I had didn't smoke pot, yet he needed a cattle prod to keep him working, and would continually screw up the work. I would receive at least 2 customer complaints about him every month. Needless to say, he was let go.

Which one would you hire?

The bottom line is, what they do on their time is their business, provided it's not brought onto the job or affects their work in any way.

Last I checked, these tests addressed the issue of ILLEGAL drugs. That is, drugs whose use as a crime.

Just to stir the pot a bit, would you tolerate other illegal activity as long as it was "off the clock?"
Such as: unlicensed contracting

Such as: illegal street drag racing

Such as: Robbing convenience stores


Then ... after the inevetable happens .... would you hire a felon? Even if his olny crimes were drug-related?

The only difference between legal drugs and illegal drugs is the power of the drug company lobbiests.
If I was a meth fan and I wanted to be "legal" I could go to a doctor feel good who would diagnose me as ADD and I could get a scrip for Adderal which is nothing but the old , now illegal, Biphetamine capsules (AKA black beauties), Very "speedy" stuff.
If I was a downer freak there are dozens of barbituates and mood altering drugs that they will give you.
I agree with Sixer here. I think I would rather have a guy there who smoked some pot last weekend than a guy who has 2 Vicodin in his system now. Of course drinking has been legal since 1933, about the same time the other drugs became illegal. Coincidence? I don't think so. Legal vs illegal is just the current state of the bureaucracy.

BTW Reno, have you fired every guy who drove home from a bar with 3 beers in him? That's illegal too.

Have you also fired everyone who drives a bit over the posted speed limit on the highway? Everybody who jaywalks? Spits on the sidewalk? Flicks cigarette butts out their car window? Everyone who downloads bootleg music/videos from the internet?

All of these actions are illegal, as well, so you can either have a "crew of one", or you are going to have to hire people who occasionally engage in criminal activity in their off-hours.

And if said activity has no impact on their performance/reliability ON THE JOB, then it is none of the employer's business.

[This message has been edited by NJwirenut (edited 04-12-2006).]

While drug testing is a requirement of employment where I work, I still vehemently disagree with it. It seems like at the least it is an illegal search and at worst you are being required to testify against yourself without ever having been arrested or charged with a crime.

I simply believe it is against our Constitutional rights and the founding fathers would have agreed.

What if I smoke pot in Denmark or somewhere where it is legal and I come back to the states and it is found in my system. How can I be fired for doing something that was legal. This subject really ticks me off and I don't even do drugs.