Ronald Reagan introduced Drug Testing in 1986 - What have these tests effectively prevented?

[devilgrrl]

Other than invading one's privacy and making the manufacturers of the test kits enormously wealthy.

Accidents still happen. People still get injured on the job. Trains still derail. Planes still go down.

So what have these drugs test done for society? From where I'm sitting - not a whole lot.

Tell me what I'm not getting.

[pintobean]

1. A clue. n/t

[devilgrrl]

2. good answer and unrec!

[Fumesucker]

3. A lot of wealthy people..

There's big money in drug testing..

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KansDem]

5. You answered your own question...

...invading one's privacy and making the manufacturers of the test kits enormously wealthy.

[devilgrrl]

9. So you have to problem with having to take drug tests still?

Why are they still here?

[KansDem]

12. Oh, sure...I have a problem with drug tests.

But I was just answering your question of why we still have them...

[HappyMe]

6. They really haven't done a damn thing to prevent

anything.

It's just put a vast amount of ching into the test companies' pockets.

[Aerows]

7. They've given...

...insurance companies excuses not to pay claims for those who get injured on the job, helped put a lot of people behind bars, and made a fortune for drug testing companies.

They haven't prevented accidents, they've just made a lot of corporate bigwigs a lot of money.

[DrDan]

8. these would suggest that drug testing is effective

"Nevertheless, drug use hasn't been eradicated from the military, and the researchers wonder whether a strict anti-drug policy is really worth the cost. The primary cost of a zero tolerance policy is the cost of replacing terminated workers. They note that the military's approach in the early 1980s, which coupled lower random testing rates and a more lenient two-strikes-and-your-out policy, still showed a sizeable deterrence effect. "These results suggest that policies that would be feasible today in the private sector can be expected to reduce drug use in a cost-effective manner," they say."

http://www.nber.org/digest/mar00/w7383.html

and

"Random drug testing policies appear to provide a strong tool for schools to use in the battle to
reduce alcohol and drug usage among teens. Yet, there are several legal, financial, educational, and privacy
issues that must be considered by schools that want to implement or continue random drug testing policies.
While the legal debate will continue over drug testing in schools, this study does show that random drug
testing policies are effective in reducing the temptation to use drugs and alcohol."

http://www.sportsafe.com/IN%20survey.PDF

[devilgrrl]

11. WTF does anyone care what you do with yourself on your own time?

What a heaping pile!

[DrDan]

14. I certainly do not care what you do with your own time - just

showing a couple of sources that claim the testing is effective - something you denied in your OP.

[nebenaube]

16. No, the kids just go for things that are not tested for... n/t

Testing for pot created more meth and coke users since one can piss clean in three days.

[JonLP24]

17. I'm not sure how they know that about the military

People still used but mostly on leave or stayed with the harder stuff because it doesn't stay in the system long. Even with that, there is A LOT of heavy drinking in the military. I remember seeing a three story beer bong in the barracks one time.

[DrDan]

22. yeah - when I was in the U.S.A.F., alcohol was a big problem

I think they have tried to address it somewhat, but it remains a part of military life.

I remember back in Germany seeing some at the Rod and Gun club starting to indulge at 9:00 am. That is a problem.

[JonLP24]

24. I remember one morning

after a night of heavy drinking with fans, I came out of my barracks room hungover bad and saw my friends already drinking beer. It was probably around 9 or 10 in the morning, I don't sleep long with lots of alcohol in my system because of the "rebound effect".

I remember drug/alcohol counselors talking about "triggers" and changing your environment so you don't get the urge to drink but the barracks is the worst place to be for someone that is recovering. It is all around you.

[TlalocW]

10. The opportunity to drink a lot of red food coloring the day before

And screaming in mock pain during a piss test?

TlalocW

[HappyMe]

15. !!!

:rofl:

[devilgrrl]

13. Anyone that defends having to submit to a drug test is an authoritarian asshole.

:hi:

[slackmaster]

18. Both houses of Congress had Democratic majorities in 1988 when the Drug-Free Workplace act was...

...passed. Reagan signed it into law, but it wasn't his creation.

[devilgrrl]

27. Happened under his watch - as did raising the drinking age nationwide

eom

[EC]

19. I'm guessing here

but I think that corps get a bit off their company health insurance plans and I'm thinking that their liability insurance likely has a discount rate if it can be "proven" that there is no drug-use among employees. Hence the testing.

[maxrandb]

20. It's made it much easier

to convince Americans to give up freedoms they never would have dreamed of giving up in the past.

IMHO - It was never about "work-place safety", or "reducing drug use". It was simply a tool to give to employers to extract even more power over American workers and how they choose to live their lives.

Once you've succumbed to pissing in a bottle in front of total strangers, how hard will you fight for Collective Bargaining, or other workplace rights.

It's controlling!
It's cynical!
It removes rights from employees!
It degrades employees!
It reinforces that the employer basically "owns" you!
It weakens the American worker!
It attacks those that no one defends!

In other words...it's a Wingnut Conservative's Wet Dream

[hifiguy]

26. 100% correct. n/t

[Romulox]

21. I agree with the above poster. The War on Drugs has really conditioned us to accept any intrusion.

When the government can demand urine and body tissue from us, what boundary is left?

[obxhead]

23. They have prevented "potheads" from filing valid workers comp claims

for on the job injuries.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

25. They've created the industry of "clean urine" products.

Oh, and let's not forget the classic creation of synthetic urine. Honestly, could you imagine a society today w/o synthetic urine? How could the creation of a need for such an innovative product not benefit society as a whole?

[4_TN_TITANS]

28. I work for a huge international company

and the only time a drug test happens is when it might help the company out of some liability because of an accident. Otherwise, you're literally pissing away your capital wasting it on drug tests.