Comments on: Drug Testing: A Wake-up Call to the Courts http://ablawg.ca/2008/03/13/drug-testing-a-wake-up-call-to-the-courts/ Thu, 17 May 2012 17:37:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: David Small http://ablawg.ca/2008/03/13/drug-testing-a-wake-up-call-to-the-courts/#comment-19601 David Small Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:54:42 +0000 http://ablawg.ca/2008/03/13/drug-testing-a-wake-up-call-to-the-courts/#comment-19601 Scenerio. You and your wife go on a cruise and have a night of dancing and fun and you also consume alcoholic beverages. 2 weeks later you go to work and you are hit with a random drug and alcohol test. Although you have not had a drink for 2 weeks your alcohol shows up as positive and you are forced to quit or take a re-habilitation program to keep your job. The worker tries to explain that he hasn't had a drink in 2 weeks. The employer says that doens't matter because it's in your system. We all know this could not happen because alcohol testing is based on your recent use. But what if it did stay in your system the same as marijuana? Would the entire work force have to make a choice of never drinking alcohol again? Yet we continue to discriminate against marijuana users in this fashion. There are many other drugs with much more harmful effects that will not show up on a random drug test after a couple days of no use. It seems to me that a high percentage of the work force is hooked on coffee. Take this drug away and see how people will react. How many times have you heard the excuse " i haven't had my coffee yet" and it is widely accepted by todays society. Scenerio. You and your wife go on a cruise and have a night of dancing and fun and you also consume alcoholic beverages. 2 weeks later you go to work and you are hit with a random drug and alcohol test. Although you have not had a drink for 2 weeks your alcohol shows up as positive and you are forced to quit or take a re-habilitation program to keep your job. The worker tries to explain that he hasn’t had a drink in 2 weeks. The employer says that doens’t matter because it’s in your system.

We all know this could not happen because alcohol testing is based on your recent use. But what if it did stay in your system the same as marijuana? Would the entire work force have to make a choice of never drinking alcohol again? Yet we continue to discriminate against marijuana users in this fashion. There are many other drugs with much more harmful effects that will not show up on a random drug test after a couple days of no use. It seems to me that a high percentage of the work force is hooked on coffee. Take this drug away and see how people will react. How many times have you heard the excuse ” i haven’t had my coffee yet” and it is widely accepted by todays society.

]]> By: Rachel R. http://ablawg.ca/2008/03/13/drug-testing-a-wake-up-call-to-the-courts/#comment-2309 Rachel R. Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:14:35 +0000 http://ablawg.ca/2008/03/13/drug-testing-a-wake-up-call-to-the-courts/#comment-2309 I couldn't agree more with this article. The need to protect public safety supersedes the right to allow citizens to partake in illicit and illegal drug use. It is a good sign that the courts are finally taking notice of the issue and that companies are starting to act pro actively in preventing accidents and potentially the loss of human life, due to worker impairment. On a side note, there are other types of drug testing that are becoming more popular in the employee drug testing field. Oral fluid is a much better indicator of recent drug use or current impairment, opposed to urine drug testing. With these advances, the argument that drugs may have been used in the distant past is becoming less and less relevant. I look forward to hearing the results of the Kellogg Brown and Root case if it does indeed go to trial in the Supreme Court. I couldn’t agree more with this article. The need to protect public safety supersedes the right to allow citizens to partake in illicit and illegal drug use.
It is a good sign that the courts are finally taking notice of the issue and that companies are starting to act pro actively in preventing accidents and potentially the loss of human life, due to worker impairment.

On a side note, there are other types of drug testing that are becoming more popular in the employee drug testing field. Oral fluid is a much better indicator of recent drug use or current impairment, opposed to urine drug testing. With these advances, the argument that drugs may have been used in the distant past is becoming less and less relevant.

I look forward to hearing the results of the Kellogg Brown and Root case if it does indeed go to trial in the Supreme Court.

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