Drug Testing in the Work Place

[rjs246]

So this has been a hot topic in my little world lately and is coming to a head right now. The ladyfriend (and by extension, I) stopped smoking for about a year leading up to her graduation/imminent employment. She got hired, tested and passed. I have never had to get tested for a job but that is changing with an upcoming project.

I'm sure you all know how I feel about this. In spite of the fact that I haven't smoked more than 4 or 5 times over the past year or so, and will pass a drug test with ease, I have very serious problems with being tested. I consider it a massive invasion of privacy and completely irrelevant to my ability to succeed at my job.

My feelings on privacy and civil liberty seem to be much stronger than most of the loudmouths around here but I was wondering how everyone feels about this topic in particular.

[Wingspan]

A positive test wont result in you being arrested. It's within the company's right to fire you though. It has nothing to do with civil liberties or rights. It's the employers right to make sure their employees are not on drugs, which could hinder their productivity.

Purplemonkeydishwasher.

[SunMo]

we test here, it's mandatory pre-employment and if you get injured and seek medical treatment

since our company is one that works with machinery that can injure you, and involves doing things that can lead to serious injuries, i don't think it's totally out of order to have them in place

[rjs246]

Why is that within their rights? I'm not getting high at work. I'm not coming into work after spiking up. Smoking a little squeef at home isn't going to have any impact on my productivity and it certainly won't have as much impact as the amount of alcohol I consume.

[phattymatty]

I'm not coming into work after spiking up.

they don't know that.

smoking a little squeef at home isn't going to have any impact on my productivity and it certainly won't have as much impact as the amount of alcohol I consume.

they don't know that either.

i had to take one before i started, and am supposed to have 'random' ones.  that hasn't happened, luckily for me.  we have 1000s of people in my company that work onsite with machinery, i think it only makes sense to make sure that you don't have druggies operating them.  it's a different story than someone who sits at a compuetr all day.  but you really can't test some and not others.

[reese125]

RJS--CEO/President of Ilovebacon.com and you put everything you have into your bacon franchise. Some idiot decides to get high (weed, coke, heroine, etc.) that day and goes for a joy ride in the company car and kills himself and someone else. Now you have major legal concerns--insurance or not. Still want to drug test?

Now on the flip side, if your an employee it becomes horseshtein because it doesn't represent the majority, and I can see why you would be pissed. The fact that the test can detect prior use a month or so before testing shows no evidence that it will effect work performance for some. The employer just cant take any chances so it covers it tracks all around.

[Phanatic]

Not only do I get tested but they take hair samples for accuracy. It's a manufacturing company so they want to make sure no one messes up the machines. Because it's a union company I don't think you get fired if you test positive. You have to enroll yourself in a rehab program of some sort and get counceled depending on the type of drug.

A friend of mine who works for the airlines as ground crew ran a luggage truck thing into an airplane. They tested him on the spot and he tested positive. Even though he wasn't high at the time it was in his system still so he was at fault. They didn't fire him though. he spent some time in a rehab center or something and he's back on the job.

[rjs246]

You see, the thing is that I get all of that. I get that there insurance issues and liability issues and productivity concerns if the person is coming into work all farged up. But none of those corporate concerns are important enough to me to justify it. The corporate world is 100% bullshtein. Humanity would be better off without it, but it's a means to an end. I need to pay my bills, and since I am capable of doing this type of work and doing it very well, I do it. But the instant it starts impeding on my values its importance disappears.

Anyway, hooray for corporate america!

[phattymatty]

go roam the wilderness then, hippie.

[rjs246]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to be able to make a decent living without bowing down to massive corporations and their absurd rules and regulations, but this is our bed, I guess we all have to lay in it.

In other words, I'm going to go wander the wilderness now.

[SD_Eagle5]

I hated the random drug tests given when I was in the military, I was clean as a whistle, but I had no confidence in the idiots running the program. Its amazing the paranoia I experience now when I smoke a little, on the surface everything is fine, but I have a dream at least once a week that I'm back in the Navy and scared because I have to get tested.

Anyway, I never understood why its okay to drink like a fish and in some instances come into a job a little buzzed, but take a hit and you're farged. Since I'm just a college student I won't have to cross the drug testing road again for another year or so, but if it comes to a job I really want and the pay is good I'll just look at it as something I have to sacrifice.

FYI - Piss tests are really easy to beat if you do a little research.

[phattymatty]

i like to pretend that my urine is immune to drug tests.  i have passed them before when i most definitely should not have.  i think sometimes it's just a scam to see of you have any problems with it, then they don't even bother spending money to get it tested if you have no problems with peeing in the cup.

[Sgt PSN]

Reese is actually making a little bit of sense.  Scary.

You gotta look at the bigger picture with this one Rusty.  You may be responsible enough to not smoke up during working hours or to come into work after spending all night toking up, eating twinkies and watching The Wall but that doesn't mean that the potheads who work with you can act just as responsibly.  Every business out there is in buisness to make money and they do so by selling a product or service.  You play a role in that company turning a profit.  And whether you believe it or not, that company has invested time and money into you because they feel that you are going to help not only turn a profit, but increase profits.  So they want to protect their investment by ensuring that all of their employees (not just you) are showing up to work sober and ready to maximize profits that you'll probably never see a dime of.  

Even though I don't smoke MJ and never have, I'm totally in favor of it being legalized.  And if it ever is legal, I'd still be in favor of companies testing for it.  Especially any company that utilizes heavy equipment, explosives, etc, etc.  

[Sgt PSN]

FYI - Piss tests are really easy to beat if you do a little research.

They are just as long as you don't have to go through airport security. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whizzinator

[rjs246]

And if it ever is legal, I'd still be in favor of companies testing for it.  Especially any company that utilizes heavy equipment, explosives, etc, etc. 

You make a good point here. I'm constantly handling explosives at the office.