The cat and mouse game of drug testing..

[IGBT]

Text

....goes to show ya. Drug testing works. It's cleaned up many work places and we need a lot more of it. Testing is getting cheaper all the time. Police..fire..transportation and other safety sensitive workers are required to participate in testing. It's time to require all positions of responsibility including all levels of management to test...how many of you guys could pass a drug test??


Palmeiro, only the fourth major leaguer in history to accumulate 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, had positioned himself, at 40, for Hall of Fame consideration; he had cast himself -- with his aggressive, finger-pointing sworn testimony to Congress in March -- as a staunch opponent of drug cheats.

But last week he was nailed by baseball's testing regimen, which is imposing sanctions on big-leaguers for the first time this season. And Palmeiro's reaction was thoroughly familiar: He was mystified by the positive test. Astonished. Unable to explain it.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Some of these guys are morons. Palmeiro tested positive for Winny. That stuff can stay in your system for a year or more. Assuming he's using a south of the border supplier, his intended product was probably contaminated.

Granted at his age, he should be restricting himself to growth hormone, insulin, and IGF with maybe a little Dbol in the off season.

The testing nerds are crowing but the truth is that "chemically-modified" athletes are still way ahead of the game. BALCO only came to light due to someone being careless.

 

[PatboyX]

i could pass a drug test but it wouldnt matter a tick at my job if i didnt.
and i doubt they drug test doctors all that often and they certainly are not above abuse.
in most cases, i think drug tests would be a waste of money passed down to us. and i think a lot of users, especially in the jobs where you make tons of cash (as stated above) are ahead of the game. i think youd end up with a lot of low-income drug users out of work.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: PatboyX
i could pass a drug test but it wouldnt matter a tick at my job if i didnt.
and i doubt they drug test doctors all that often and they certainly are not above abuse.
in most cases, i think drug tests would be a waste of money passed down to us. and i think a lot of users, especially in the jobs where you make tons of cash (as stated above) are ahead of the game. i think youd end up with a lot of low-income drug users out of work.

Why would anyone care if their doctor, lawyer, police officer, or priest was taking steroids, growth hormone, or insulin? These are not drugs of abuse. They are performance/health enhancers. If my wife would let me, I would have a $1000/month growth hormone habit. I know several people on it and it's awesome.

I know even more people on insulin. You only get to abuse insulin once.

As for sports, none of the major regulatory bodies have instituted global tests for hgh or insulin.

 

[bamacre]

Can we drug test our political leaders, too?

I mean, if we drug test a fireman, shouldn't we drug test the president, and the secretary of state, etc.?

 

[Martin]

yes, more control over our lives and less freedom, that is exactly what we need :roll:

here's an even better idea: instead of just testing for drugs, because recreational drug use on weekends may (or may not) impact your work during the week, why don't we test for ANYTHING that can impact yoru work negatively? smoked some salvia on a saturday? you're fired, you won't be as productive on monday! Been dumped by your girlfriend? you're fried, as you'll likely think of her during your working hours, leading to less productivity. Family memeber died? pack your things bud, sadness wil distract you from work!

Won't life be great then? Do you have any more brilliant ideas?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Martin
yes, more control over our lives and less freedom, that is exactly what we need :roll:

here's an even better idea: instead of just testing for drugs, because recreational drug use on weekends may (or may not) impact your work during the week, why don't we test for ANYTHING that can impact yoru work negatively? smoked some salvia on a saturday? you're fired, you won't be as productive on monday! Been dumped by your girlfriend? you're fried, as you'll likely think of her during your working hours, leading to less productivity. Family memeber died? pack your things bud, sadness wil distract you from work!

Won't life be great then? Do you have any more brilliant ideas?

1) You have an employer, that employer has the right to ensure that you produce at max effectiveness. They can impose conditions, leave if you can not handle them.

2) Public safety falls under the same conditions. Take public money, and you should be held accountable for your condition.

Be it drugs, personality, emotions, whatever.

If the person that provides you with a $ does not feel that you are earning the $, that $ should be able to be withheld for future services.

If you feel that those conditions are unfair, then do not ask/use that service.
If that service is life-essential, then choose.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

I still don't get it . . . or maybe you guys are just OT. The link is about drug testing in SPORTS. My argument is that smart, elite athletes are definitely mice . . . akin to Jerry . . . you know the mouse that almost always gets away.

As for "recreational" drugs, all tests have tolerances. If you are below the minimum cut off, then you test NEGATIVE. Rare coke use . . . PASS depending on last time. Rare or low use MJ . . . PASS depending on last time. Again, the sensitivity of the test matters and as a generalization the more sensitive the test the less reliable (ie high false positives).

And of course stimulants typically clear within days . . . so the only people you catch are morons and addicts. Then again if you buy EagleKeepers "max effectiveness" argument, somebody needs to explain themselves.

dcmilitary.com

The Air Force is extensively res-earching a new drug, which may help pilots stay awake and alert during missions, according to officials.

The Air Force has come under fire in recent months for prescribing pilots a controlled substance -- amphetamine -- to combat fatigue while performing long patrol missions lasting upwards of 30 hours.

Defense lawyers for two American pilots, who accidentally killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan last year, argue the Air Force-issued dexamphetamine was to blame for the accident. The drug, known commercially as Dexedrine, is called the "go pill" in military circles.

I guess "abuse" of Rx drugs is OK if you are the government.

 

[Martin]

BBD, while the article was on sports, IGBT clearly went off on how drug testing should be applied to all kids of work environments..hence my comment.

EK: the MJ I smoked a few weeks back has clearly clouded my mind (for I am a looney liberal, you see...) and thus I simply cannot think of any more ways to turn poeple into soulless, servile drones. Perhaps you can help, you've shown a penchant and great enthusiasm for such thinking..

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Fair enough, Martin. I don't understand these people that have no concept of what truly troubles our nation. Alcohol, tobacco use, and prescription drug abuse are all individually far more problematic than illicit drugs. Steroids are scarcely even on the scale. The zealots are allegedly acting in the interests of public health (and that of individuals) but why go after these fringe issues when our "legal" drugs are the source of our greatest problems?

Maybe it's the Libertarian talking but I cannot comprehend the logic in treating a drunk on the job as a firing offense but if you hit the bong a couple of times last week you get fired AND go to jail. If you sell 1000 cases of beer to a college town, you get a promotion. If you sell 1000 joints you go to jail for life.

We really are a retarded country. You have no hope when people refuse to use common sense and our "science" is polluted by the same people that refuse to use common sense.

 

[kylebisme]

Yeah, monitoring for alcohol abuse would likely prove more effective at cleaning up workplaces than testing for drug use; but it seems obvious to me that if one really wants to clean up a work place then one should focus on what happens in that work place and not pick on people simply becuase they get sloshed on the weekends or whatever.

 

[tommywishbone]

I'd like to see anyone who is paid with taxpayer money drug tested. Politicians, cops, judges, FBI, everyone. One positive and you're fired and you get prosecuted. Sure right... like that will happen. As it is, the US's multi-trillion dollar 'war on drugs' is going so well, why change anything?

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: PatboyX
i could pass a drug test but it wouldnt matter a tick at my job if i didnt.
and i doubt they drug test doctors all that often and they certainly are not above abuse.
in most cases, i think drug tests would be a waste of money passed down to us. and i think a lot of users, especially in the jobs where you make tons of cash (as stated above) are ahead of the game. i think youd end up with a lot of low-income drug users out of work.

Why would anyone care if their doctor, lawyer, police officer, or priest was taking steroids, growth hormone, or insulin? These are not drugs of abuse. They are performance/health enhancers. If my wife would let me, I would have a $1000/month growth hormone habit. I know several people on it and it's awesome.

I know even more people on insulin. You only get to abuse insulin once.

As for sports, none of the major regulatory bodies have instituted global tests for hgh or insulin.

i was thinking outside the context of the initial question. about other, more frequently abused drugs.