6 months ago I left upper management of a large corprate entity that drug tested. You folks talk about that place often, and I'd like to start a thread at some point setting you all straight, both those for and agianst, on some facts you may find interesting but it will be a long, long rant on my part.

I have pretty serious ethical problems with drug testing in SOME scenarios. You can't have truck drivers and guards and teachers and construction workers strung out, you just can't. But the only way to ensure that is CONSTANT random testing, which VERY FEW companies do that.

Most places test at applicant stage and IF there is an accident or IF there is reasonable cause to believe they are on something. In cases of workplaces where not being safe can get A LOT OF PEOPLE KILLED I really don't have a problem with this. In fact, I don't have a problem with preemplyment testing for EVERY JOB because people who ABUSE (not use) drugs do not make good employees, and no one likes to work with asshats. It also says something about personal dependebility becuase if you cant stop snorting meth for one month so you can find a freakin job then please, please go work somewhere else.

Heres what I have a problem with:


1. In a lot of cases, it really becomes largely symbolic, as a way to promote a "drug free workplace" you get tested up front. It also gets you brownie points with the city, state and local government for doing so, which helps to secure community support both through buisness-friendly community grants, subsidies etc and through tax incentives. So why not do it?

2. It provides a means to terminate people who may otherwise not be firable. This is good because purging is good in low-skill jobs, it lets you hire repalcements and pay them less. Also, if you can get them to quit through IMPLIED THREAT OF TESTING, you can rehire them later (veteran for lower pay) because they never actually refused a test or failed a test. It's also good at getting rid of people when you are told your staff is too fat. There are pretty serious legal concerns so most places just wont come in and one day test everyone "just because", but implementing a policy or starting a witch hunt (like through a staged drug complaint to corporate, so they get behind you on it) will let you weed out people who are "acting funny" or "have attendence issues" or "was heard talking about getting high"