Angry about drug tests.......

[CorCentral]

Down in FL, I worked for a construction company Operating Loaders and Earth Mover/Pans and before I got hired I noticed that they did random drug testing.

No big deal here, beer is all I drink.

But what got me was that 90% of all the users smoked pot on the job and I was thinking if this company ever did get drug tests done, they'd have no crew left :laugh:

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

1) i agree. they just don't do random test that often.

2) i disagree. i wouldnt want my employees who are drug abusers. just for the off chance they come into work high and cause damages to either work stuff or someones property.

The only people who ever come up hot are people who smoke MJ. Which can stay in your system for a month. Where as people who do cocain will never fail as it will be out of your system in 24-48 hours.

This is assuming its urine tests at least.

So basically you are never going to test the real drug abusers, just the people who may toke an occasional joint on the weekends. Meth, even heroin are all 3 days max

Our recent term by random drug test came up postive for cocaine. He claimed his buddies told him it would be out of his system in two days...it wasn't.

I'm going to assume it was a urine test? Everyone's metabolism is different, and the only examples I know of were from people who rarely did it - only a line or so on the weekend at the club - but I know of people who personally did it and passed will less then a week before the test. Repeatedly passed. I can only assume tests have gotten better, or that this person your talking about did coke very often.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

I disagree with you on point number 1...sort of.
Being a crane operator and having a Class A drivers license, I've always been subject to random drug testing, pre-employment testing, and "Just for the fuck of it" testing...they have a pool of all the folks subject to random testing, sometimes your name comes up, sometimes it doesn't.
Never bothered me in the slightest. If they've got the money, (to pay for the tests and my wages) I've got the time...

Once, following a minor vehicle mis-hap, (equipment failure caused a traffic accident) I had to go for drug testing. Standard procedure, but it put me into double time...for 4 hours...I was perfectly happy to sit at the testing clinic and wait till they were ready for me...at $70/hour. 😀

Drug testing is no big deal...as long as you don't do drugs. If you do, there's always McDonalds.

On a job like that where you could really kill people if you fuck up, then I'm fine with it. I wouldn't want to hire a crane operator who's been smoking. And if you have a job like that where you're being tested regularly, then you shouldn't be using anything anyway - it's just stupid.

Trust me when I say you want the employees that work for my company to not use drugs. If you heard they were using drugs you would be more angry than hearing abouta crane operator using drugs.

 

[Chryso]

What we also need is random alcohol tests.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
to elaborate:
drug testing by an employer is done either regularly, randomly, or with cause. in any event, employees know of and accept these conditions.

most often, insurance companies are the driving force behind "drug-free workplaces"

fired immediately after 1 hot test? sounds unlikely. is your company spending $1000's on a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry test? even then, the possibility of a misplaced sample or error during sample collection is more than a competent lawyer needs.

yep. and 2nd failed test will only get you suspended without pay for 60 days, not fired. covering your bases against lawsuits. come up hot a 3rd time and you are terminated. I thought it was pretty loose standards

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I took about 11 drug tests in just under 4 years with the Army. Don't use drugs and you won't piss hot, simple as that. If this is an issue for you, don't work for a company that drug tests.

What if they outlawed something you do enjoy?

Drug tests (and drug laws, but that's another thread) are a blatant violation of privacy. They're essentially saying that they don't care whether you perform your job or not, only what you do off the clock.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: EMPshockwave82

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

I disagree with you on point number 1...sort of.
Being a crane operator and having a Class A drivers license, I've always been subject to random drug testing, pre-employment testing, and "Just for the fuck of it" testing...they have a pool of all the folks subject to random testing, sometimes your name comes up, sometimes it doesn't.
Never bothered me in the slightest. If they've got the money, (to pay for the tests and my wages) I've got the time...

Once, following a minor vehicle mis-hap, (equipment failure caused a traffic accident) I had to go for drug testing. Standard procedure, but it put me into double time...for 4 hours...I was perfectly happy to sit at the testing clinic and wait till they were ready for me...at $70/hour. 😀

Drug testing is no big deal...as long as you don't do drugs. If you do, there's always McDonalds.

On a job like that where you could really kill people if you fuck up, then I'm fine with it. I wouldn't want to hire a crane operator who's been smoking. And if you have a job like that where you're being tested regularly, then you shouldn't be using anything anyway - it's just stupid.

Trust me when I say you want the employees that work for my company to not use drugs. If you heard they were using drugs you would be more angry than hearing abouta crane operator using drugs.

Don't know whatcha do, but personally, I have no problem with every company doing drug testing.

I don't know which is worse...a druggie crane operator who could fuck up and kill people, or a druggie tech support worker who could fuck up and cause someone to do an unnecessary re-boot! 😛

Druggies at fast-food places are probably the reason why drive-through orders are usually fucked up too...😀

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: Chryso
What we also need is random alcohol tests.

Why would we want that? :laugh:

Serious though, when I was working, it was 60 hours a week and by the time I got home, I was too tired to drink. Maybe 1-3 and I was out. But Fri and Sat were different stories altogether 😉

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

he speaks the truth

bullshit he speaks the truth.

i dont want some coked up bus driver driving my kids school bus period.

 

[Oyeve]

Drug tests are for 1 reason. The company does not want to pay for rehab. Really, look at your medical plan. You get screwed paying for a regular doctor visit but if you are a crakhead the company has to pay thousands and thousands and thousands for your rehab. Most med plans cover drug rehab 100% for something like 2 years but you have to pay 100 bucks just to get a physical. Most companies dont want to take a chance on paying rehab fees for a drug user.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: Chryso
What we also need is random alcohol tests.

When the screening is done a breathalyzer is taken as well. At least with my company.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

1) i agree. they just don't do random test that often.

2) i disagree. i wouldnt want my employees who are drug abusers. just for the off chance they come into work high and cause damages to either work stuff or someones property.

The only people who ever come up hot are people who smoke MJ. Which can stay in your system for a month. Where as people who do cocain will never fail as it will be out of your system in 24-48 hours.

This is assuming its urine tests at least.

So basically you are never going to catch the real drug abusers, just the people who may toke an occasional joint on the weekends. Meth, even heroin are all 3 days max

that is total bullshit. a urine test can detect many many many drugs at very very very small amounts.

 

[OCGuy]

Don't do drugs? Or maybe just drink alcohol? Grow up people. The business/labor world isnt high school.

If you have to smoke herb, be careful about it. There are ways around MJ tests if you put the time/$$$ in.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: EMPshockwave82

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
to elaborate:
drug testing by an employer is done either regularly, randomly, or with cause. in any event, employees know of and accept these conditions.

most often, insurance companies are the driving force behind "drug-free workplaces"

fired immediately after 1 hot test? sounds unlikely. is your company spending $1000's on a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry test? even then, the possibility of a misplaced sample or error during sample collection is more than a competent lawyer needs.

yep. and 2nd failed test will only get you suspended without pay for 60 days, not fired. covering your bases against lawsuits. come up hot a 3rd time and you are terminated. I thought it was pretty loose standards

at my place:
test upon hiring
test after 90ish days
test after a vehicular accident
test with "just cause"

any failed test gets 1 re-test. fail that and you're out.

the "fired immediately" comment was mostly directed to CPA's comment

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
Drug tests are for 1 reason. The company does not want to pay for rehab. Really, look at your medical plan. You get screwed paying for a regular doctor visit but if you are a crakhead the company has to pay thousands and thousands and thousands for your rehab. Most med plans cover drug rehab 100% for something like 2 years but you have to pay 100 bucks just to get a physical. Most companies dont want to take a chance on paying rehab fees for a drug user.

I think the potential costs for an employer run much higher if an employee fucks up something. Liability costs, legal fees, and lawsuits usually cost FAR more than a rehab program.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: DarrelSPowers

Originally posted by: TallBill
I took about 11 drug tests in just under 4 years with the Army. Don't use drugs and you won't piss hot, simple as that. If this is an issue for you, don't work for a company that drug tests.

This... and what CV said too...

Drug tests are a farce. The only thing that ever shows up is weed, because most harder drugs are out of your system within a few hours to a few days.

I could write forever as to how bullshit I think drugtests are, but I've found I enjoy working with people at companies that don't drug test as compared to companies that do.

dude did your crack dealer tell you this?


the company i work for does drug testing for people on parole or probation... trust me when i say drug test (urine test) pick up more than pot. a lot more.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

1. depends on the company and their management
2. in certain jobs the tests should absolutely exist because they hold other peoples lives at risk. you shouldnt be able to live your life as you see fit if it places other lives at risk almost daily.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: CKent

Originally posted by: TallBill
I took about 11 drug tests in just under 4 years with the Army. Don't use drugs and you won't piss hot, simple as that. If this is an issue for you, don't work for a company that drug tests.

What if they outlawed something you do enjoy?

Drug tests (and drug laws, but that's another thread) are a blatant violation of privacy. They're essentially saying that they don't care whether you perform your job or not, only what you do off the clock.

What the fuck are you talking about? Then can legally test for drugs that are an illegal substance. No, pot isn't worse then alcohol, but it happens to be illegal.

If you don't like it, then don't work for that company. You have a choice too. It isn't an invasion of privacy, because you waive that right to privacy when you sign the paper agreeing to drug testing.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Chryso
What we also need is random alcohol tests.

i can arrange that.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

1) i agree. they just don't do random test that often.

2) i disagree. i wouldnt want my employees who are drug abusers. just for the off chance they come into work high and cause damages to either work stuff or someones property.

The only people who ever come up hot are people who smoke MJ. Which can stay in your system for a month. Where as people who do cocain will never fail as it will be out of your system in 24-48 hours.

This is assuming its urine tests at least.

So basically you are never going to test the real drug abusers, just the people who may toke an occasional joint on the weekends. Meth, even heroin are all 3 days max

Our recent term by random drug test came up postive for cocaine. He claimed his buddies told him it would be out of his system in two days...it wasn't.

I'm going to assume it was a urine test? Everyone's metabolism is different, and the only examples I know of were from people who rarely did it - only a line or so on the weekend at the club - but I know of people who personally did it and passed will less then a week before the test. Repeatedly passed. I can only assume tests have gotten better, or that this person your talking about did coke very often.

My post was more directed at your comment that only pot smokers test positive in these drug tests. We have had several ex-employees test positive for something other than pot.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

he speaks the truth

bullshit he speaks the truth.

i dont want some coked up bus driver driving my kids school bus period.

the point is doing what you want to do - on your time. btw, how many american school buses have seat belts? is the number greater than zero?

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

the point is doing what you want to do - on your time. btw, how many american school buses have seat belts? is the number greater than zero?

Yes.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

he speaks the truth

bullshit he speaks the truth.

i dont want some coked up bus driver driving my kids school bus period.

the point is doing what you want to do - on your time. btw, how many american school buses have seat belts? is the number greater than zero?

man stfu your argument is so stupid im not going to respond anymore.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Originally posted by: sactoking

2. You're ignoring all of the statistical evidence linking drug use to other forms of crime.

That is because most of that 'statistical evidence' is outright wrong. It has been debunked so many times that it seems a wonder that it keeps coming up in conversations.
The studies that show 'statistical evidence linking drug use to other forms of crime' were not correcting for factors like poverty. It turns out that real correlation is that crime increases the odds of drug use, not the other way around.

The problems with random drug tests are legion. It starts with the problem of the company wanting to control your private life, and continues right though all the problems with how inaccurate drugs tests really are.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
1. These tests aren't random - they pick people who they suspect are users.
2. The tests shouldn't exist in the first place - they're trying to dictate how you live your life. As long as you don't come into work high or whatever, it shouldn't be a problem.

he speaks the truth

bullshit he speaks the truth.

i dont want some coked up bus driver driving my kids school bus period.

the point is doing what you want to do - on your time. btw, how many american school buses have seat belts? is the number greater than zero?

You can do what you want to do on your own time, and there are plenty of companies that will accommodate your decisions. However, employers have the right to do what they want to do concerning drugs, and if you choose to work for them (note: choose) then you have to play by their rules or take your chances.