Employers drug testing for pot !

[NikRik]

I believe testing your employees for a drug like pot is a complete waste of time and resources . First of all this "drug" stays in your system for aprx 30 days ,so if you smoked some at a party or something more then two weeks ago it will still show up in a drug test ! Secondly since all those who know anything about pot know it is far less harmless then drinking liquor and also what a employee does off the work sight on their own time is THEIR BISNESS, and not to be part of their employment record !
It just burns me up that our country is still so ignorant about the gentle weed and how harmless it is . The only reason pot has any danger surrounding it ,is due to the stupid war on drugs that includes pot as one of its targets. We need to look at countries like Holland etc that thru common sense realize that adults have a right to ingest this drug if they so wish ,after all they can buy and consume a gallon of vodka if they wish !
Take Care Rock

[Th1onein]

1. I agree with you, NikRik!

I just read a piece on employers pulling people's credit reports, too. These people want us to go back to the slavery days. They think they own us, in our private lives as well as our employment. Fuck them.

[ejpoeta]

3. i don't think they should be able to check your credit report unless you are

handling large amounts of money. they did a background check for his current job, because he could possibly be working with ATMs and such like that. he was sweating that wait because his credit wasn't great. but he got the job. thankfully.

[ejpoeta]

2. i remember at one place i worked, on thursday we got paid and went down to cash our paychecks and

get dinner. well, some folks would drink too, and then go back to work and work on heavy machinery like that. so i see what you mean. I tend to agree with you, personally, though i do not smoke pot. i don't even smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol anymore! i am boring. but at the one place i worked where they did 'random' tests... they seemed to test the same people over and over. i was never tested beyond the initial drug test before being hired.

[ixion]

4. drug tests are an invasion of privacy

pure and simple. I've turned down several decent job offers over the years because they chose to drug test.

Welcome to DU!

[Wizard777]

16. It's also slander. They are accusing you a crime and then requiring you prove your innocence.

[backtoblue]

17. I haven't thought of it from that prospective...

Hmmm. You're right. You have been accused of doing drugs and unless you give a piece of your bodily fluids for testing - you are guilty until your test comes back innocent...

[Wizard777]

18. A drug test should be no different than a lie detector test.

In many states even if you are the top suspect in a felony theft. It is illegal for your employer to ask you to submit to a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. I can't see why a drug test should be any different.

Also with drug tests it allows for assumptions. It can not only catch up drug users in it's broad net. But also Health Nazi's. If you're a Health Nazi that uses golden seal to help cleans your blood of toxins. The drug will also detect that and you automatically fail the test. They say you have destroyed the evidence of your drug use. But they never have to prove the crime of using drugs occurred or that there was ever actually any evidence of that crime to be destroyed. So there are due process issues with the drug test. Though the courts tend to disagree. I also say it's a violation of the Fifth. You're being forced to render evidence that will serve as testimony against yourself.

[Lefty48197]

20. They're also a violation of the 4th Amendment's protection against illegal search and seizure

Cops aren't allowed to kick in your door and search your home to see if you have any marijuana, not without due cause and a warrant anyways. Similarly, employers shouldn't be allowed to enter your body to check and see if you've used marijuana in the last 90 days.

[WhiteTara]

5. newspaper ads say drug testing except

for cannabis. These are for jobs in in-home health care, etc.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. The reasons for drug testing employees often has little to do with wanting to know

what your employees are doing on their own time. I work for a company that does drug testing in order to qualify for being certified by the state as a drug free workplace. Having that certificate gives the company a 5% reduction in workers comp insurance premiums. This can amount to several thousand dollars in savings to even a small company, such as the one I work for.

Another reason we had to devise a drug policy was because some of our larger accounts required that we either have a drug policy of our own or we would be bound by the provisions of their drug policies while we were working on their premises. We reviewed some of those policies and found them to be very strict and harsh.

Even bosses and heads of corporations are not as free as some would think when it comes to company policy and rules. Sometimes they are forced to take measures that they would ordinarily not consider.

[notesdev]

7. Insurance is a big part of it

I got asked about this when I bought a business liability and worker's comp insurance policy. My official policy was 'no drugs in the workplace' which was more than adequate to satisfy the requirements of the policy and that of the large corp which my company was formed to subcontract for.

[endless october]

8. if pot is to remain illegal...

then i'd like to see all of the politicians who have admitted experimenting with it arrested.

they're willing to ruin the lives of teenage kids but not their own lives.

fuckers take college aid away from kids who are caught with pot in my state. fucking assholes.

[flyboyscotty68]

9. drug testing doesn't deter drug use

Drug testing doesn't do anything for drug use. People are going to do what they want no matter what the penalty. There are countries that have a death sentence for drug,,,,and,,,, what do you know; They still have drug problems. The only thing to do is legalize all drugs. It is bullshit that drugs that can kill you, like aspirin, alcohol, tobacco, even cough drops, are legal, while a drug that has never killed anyone remains illegal. Total bullshit!!

[rd_kent]

10. Agreed!

I took a job not long ago that did drug testing. I told my perspective employer that I smoked pot and would continue to do so, just like I drink alcohol. I also stated that I treat my pot use like my alcohol use, and I never come to work drunk or stoned. If they had a problem with MY drug policy, then they shouldn't hire me. I have been promoted twice and the company no longer tests for cannabis in urinalysis tests. Nice, huh?

[rcrush]

11. I'd like to see mandatory drug testing for senators and congressmen if we have to take them

I bet if there was random drug testing in congress there would be a lot of cocaine and pills showing up.

[backtoblue]

13. Me too.

Most other government jobs require some sort of drug testing, so it seems logical that the higher offices would need even stricter testing IF marijuana was such a bad drug...

If marijuana is so "dangerous", then the officials who make our laws should be drug tested.

[jmowreader]

26. Not sure about cocaine, but on pills you're exactly right

My guess: 80 percent of Congress will test positive for benzodiazepines--of which Valium is the most common. And probably half of them don't have prescriptions--they just grab one of the spouse's when they need to mellow out quick.

[IDFbunny]

12. Drug testing doesn't weed out poor employees and

sometimes stings the best employees. Otherwise employer drug testing would be a lot more prevalent.

[Callisto32]

14. The really horrid thing is what they look for.

My understanding of this is that they do not look for Delta-9 THC, the primary psychoactive agent in marijuana, but rather for its metabolites. Meaning, they are actually looking for you NOT being high... They should be ashamed of themselves.

[mp9200]

15. It's ridiculous

And draconian.

[droidamus2]

19. How about this

I had a friend who worked at a nuclear power plant and here's how they did it (no drug testing). When you were hired you took a basic reflex test that went like this. You would be presented with a computer screen with a cross in the middle, at some point another symbol (don't remember what symbol they used) and the object was to click and drag it to the cross. He didn't go into detail but apparently they had you do it enough to get a baseline reading of how fast you could do it. After that when you to work or back from lunch they could require you to take the test, if you weren't within a certain percentage of you baseline you were told to go home. They didn't care why you were impaired drugs, lack of sleep, alcohol whatever their point was that they didn't want you on the job if you were impaired. Obviously if this happened too often there would be ramifications but it allowed them to actually focus on impairment and not becoming a nosy secondary police force enforcing the drug laws.

[Lefty48197]

21. I think that's a good idea for jobs where safety is an isse

such as a truck driver, fork lift operator, someone who operates tools or machinery, doctors, pilots etc.

[Mike K]

27. That seems reasonable, sensible, practical -

- and acceptable to me.

[bamacrat]

22. Agreed, as long as it doesnt affect your work it should be your own business.

[mddem9850]

23. I agree it's ridiculous

[ThomThom]

24. It will stay in you longer than 30 days, it is stored in your fat cells

so even if you have not had any for a long time and you lose weight at the time of your test you can still fail the test when your body metabolizes the fat cells. At least that is what I heard.

[Mrburra]

25. pot test why!! lol

Pointless to test for pot! and credit checks is by far one of he biggest invasion of privacy that an employer could do. What does he cared if you payed your Chase credit card on time last month. This country needs to lighten up when it comes to a drug like pot. There is so many people in jail for a illegal plant...