what do people think of drug screens?

[isitfixedyet]

[Edited by isitfixedyet on 09-22-2006 at 04:03 AM]

[isitfixedyet]

Rehab is for quitters!

[1972torino]

what someone does on their own time,and not on call,is nobodys business.

[bruce campbell]

I have no problem with them but I do believe if the company is making them take a random test, it should be on company time. It seems the only people that have a problem with drug test is people with something to hide.

[jimtech]

think about it haz mat drivers aka oil truck drivers have random drug tests. but the guy that can kill a whole household dosen't. employer only gets one shot time of hire. The problem with drugs is that the use grows over time with most users. and yes pot is a drug. that can be a problem seen it to many times in my life to be told otherwise. random drug tests should be a part of all trades.

[neophytes serendipity]

Fundamentally, I believe it to be an invasion of privacy.

On the other hand, I understand that there are insurance breaks for companies that have drug testing.

Some GC's around here require that the subs and their employees on the GC's site submit to a drug test to work there.

As long as the test is paid for by the employer and it is done on the clock, I have no problem with it. I know I can choose not to take the test, but then I will not be hired. The assumption is then made that there is a reason that I chose not to take the test.

I know someone that was hurt pretty bad on a job, and the pee test came back hot. The recreational drugs were taken off the clock. That person had the comp claim removed and had insurance issues. Lots of time off to recover from the injuries without pay. What you do off the clock can impact things that happen on the clock.

It could benefit me if employers had a random ongoing test. I do not like working with others that have substance abuse issues.

[absrbrtek]

Provided the random testing is determined by a third party and not the company. I have seen individuals singled out by employers using their "random" testing.

Personaly I think there are 4 times when drug screening should be administered:

1. Pre-employment
2. An at fault automobile accident in the company vehicle
3. An injury at work
4. Random testing determined by a third party

One of my college thesis was on drug testing in the workplace. There are false positives during testing and 100s of products on the market to mask any drug usage. Due a google search on "drug testing", the first several pages is mostly for masking agents or lawyers to defend people that fail the tests.

There are 2 ways you can help improve your chances of passing a urinatination drug test without using masking agents. Don't give them your first pee of the morning, this is your most drug concentrated time. Drink lots of fluids before the test, this will help lower your drug concentration to below trigger levels. This doesn't garrantee you will pass but helps improve your chances.

Hair folicle testing is a much more accurate form of testing. There are fewer products on the market to mask the drugs using this type of test. This would be my preffered method of testing if I were an employer testing employees.

Blood samples which are rarely used are extremely accurate also. This form of testing is rarely used due to the invasiveness of the procedure.

As I don't use any illegal substances, testing doesn't bother me. JMHO

Originally posted by jimtech
think about it haz mat drivers aka oil truck drivers have random drug tests. but the guy that can kill a whole household dosen't. employer only gets one shot time of hire. The problem with drugs is that the use grows over time with most users. and yes pot is a drug. that can be a problem seen it to many times in my life to be told otherwise. random drug tests should be a part of all trades.

[dougfamous]

I think drug testing in general is BS. No, I don't do drugs, and I've passed every "Whiz Quiz" I've had to take.

First off, the tests are easily defeated. If they stopped work, marched us all into the bathroom immediately, I'd wager that a good 1/3 of our staff would have to be fired or rehabbed.

I'm not big on giving up my privacy. Not only can they test your pee for drugs, they can test for medications you're taking, disease, etc. If you have a chronic disease and take medication, they could easily deny you employment (and save money on their health plan) and never have to tell you what they know.

As long as you're not using on company time, what's the difference? When it becomes a problem at work, then you need to step in. I know people that smoke pot nonstop from 5:00 Friday until 6:00AM Monday, and they go to work just fine for the week.

[i b cool]

What about the guy whos an alchoholic and comes to work hung or half on the bag from the night before with the shakes, or all the construction guys I see everyday in the bar on their lunch hour,double fisted, oh I forgot our government says its ok to drink but not ok to smoke a joint. Personally Id more trust the guy that smokes weed at night in his home than the booze bag. Next thell be tellin us we cant masturbate, but that wont stop me!!!

[Special Ed]

Originally posted by dougfamous If they stopped work, marched us all into the bathroom immediately, I'd wager that a good 1/3 of our staff would have to be fired or rehabbed.[/B]

That's encouraging. If I were a homeowner & just read that statement I would be sure not to hire you!

As for drug testing, if ya don't like it then you must be using.... I'm a business owner. If you refuse a test for me then I ain't hiring ya. And, no, I don't care if you're using off the clock, but if you're using off the clock, what's to keep an addict from using while on the clock? We live in the real world, guys. Users just don't limit their use while their off the clock. If you believe that then I have oceanfront property in Nevada to sell ya.

[tinner73]

I feel it's an invasion of privacy. nice on a "new hire".

"here piss in this cup and prove yourself innocent."


if there is an accident/incident, fine. but why would you assume i use drugs on a new hire? are you paranoid? i hear cocaine has that effect. maybe you're on drugs.

i'll piss test right next to you...then we'll see who's clean. like to wager?

some of the biggest dope heads/drunks i've known are owners.

don't throw stones from your glass house.

[ARPA]

For me, as a business owner, to offer health, eye, life, and dental insurance to my employees, employee 100% paid for by me, family, 50% paid for by me, that is the best coverage that I can find, my employees must:

submit to a drug screen, if they are a:
1. new hire
2. involved in an accident
3. twice a year, a % is randomly picked by the company that manages my human resources, ADP. ( to include me)

I look at it this way, if you don't want to piss in the cup, go work for someone else because I can not hire you....

[isitfixedyet]

I think , its important to have someone, u work with not impose a risk/threat to others they work with,,,
I worked for a a grain company, hired by the govt , during the reagan regime, and pumped grain from grain cars of trains, into warehouses,


I just got done having lunch with a co-worker
left him, and a half hour later two buildings down, i seen red and blue lights flashing, i went back, and there was this guy told me , that the guy i had luch with was waving a flashlight in the air for attention, the two kids that

were barely 18 had been stoned and drunk riding and driving the trackmobile that pulls the cars out and brings in the full ones to replace them, they would haul ass abd let them slam into eachother, soon they were doing this with

the ones that were being worked on, the one guy was supposed to switch the track first and then check to see if it was clear to move, and go and let the guy in the trackmobile its a go or okay to pull out the empty and then do the same with switching to bring in the full ones, the car that had ran him over that was released , was empty,

they thought it was unoccupied, and didnt see the guy
either napping or what ever, their excuse was , that the guy they ran over was urinating between the cars! when the released the empty in the place where the full ones are supposed to be brought in and the empty taken out.

earlier, that same night, prior to anything happening , they were doing this and the field foreman/supervisor, was told that they're drunk and stoned, acting wild and slamming cars into other cars , lauhing and carrying on, dangerously or recklessly,
the guy said, Im on to them, they think they can fool me?

the guy was out of it when i got there , and his leg and arm was cut off, when they brought him to, it was only by lifting him up and sliding a gurney underneathe his body, and keeping the leg that was cut off next to his body, the train wheels meshed the arteries etc shut, to keep from bleeding to death, he was stomache down, and his head raised up and looked at all of us quickly and surroundings, taking it all in, then started screaming his eyes were like . the size of hard baseballs,
the arm was left in a track about fifty feet up the tracks, after the blue and red lights had returned looking for the arm in the tracks, where the tracks switch again about three cars down from where he was found laying face down.

so my take on this is its good to have! after going through that!
I think weed is worse if not just as bad as alcohol, i know from personal experience, i dont smoke weed anymore, past time, doesnt do anything for me! but i remember driving through a green light that was actually red, and it was a hacullucination or a time frame delayed reaction, I was lit up, and or baked and toasted at the same time! i was luck i didnt get hurt or hurt anyone or get caught!

but for the most part , date of hire eliminates the blatant smoker or druggie, the thereafter,is fooled, by the employee, and what the other post here said that about a third is TRUE, whether the homeowner sees it or not!, its a reality , this isnt pollyanna, or marry poppins or the brady bunch here!
homeowners smoke and do drugs too! lol
i had doctors load my van with beer, and sodas,,,,,,,,
with out me knowing, for fixing his wine cooler,,,
I didnt know till after i drove off, they were in the van, best tip i got was a fifty dollar tip,,
asian lady must have been pisssed off at her husband, lol
I used to date this banker chick, and she was on crystal and used to act like a rabbit on that stuff, and she was a bombshell knock out, lucky me! lol
and when they pissed tested them she told me the girls would have the nurse or someone they know switch the urine, in the fridge before testing, or have somone else do it before it was shipped off to the lab,,
who knows but I think its ones own business untill hes , acting suspcious, or reported by customers, or coworkers, then its a problem, and thats the bottom line!


it is a privacy issue, and safety is involved here,but alot of people are so anal about it! and thats why they fool the tester, and the employers, becasue theyre not fair, or reasonable, or considerate, or even human, they should ,

make them go to rehab, to keep their job, if they get three then fire them, or what ever, but let them try to clean up or help them! if not simply dont hire them, but dont go on and on about yur needs, then tell them at the last minute what the job requirements are or qualifications are, so they tell u want u want to hear, get a clue!