Drug testing is no good

What right do businesses have to interfere with employee recreation? Whether it’s legal or illegal, they should not have the right to impose limitations, even if the time is spent using illicit substances.

The most common method of testing for illicit substances in an employee’s system is a urinalysis (colloquially known as a “piss test”). Like other drug tests, it doesn’t detect the test subject’s current level of drug intoxication, as it takes anywhere from six to eight hours after drug consumption for the substance(s) to be metabolized and excreted in urine. Instead, it detects usage of substances within the last few days, weeks, or even months.

Something else disconcerting about urinalysis is that it has been known to produce false positives. Drug testing methods can produce false positives because of certain foods and medicines. For instance, eating poppy seed muffins may cause a person to test positive for opiates. Nyquil may also produce false positives for opiates, methamphetamines and/or MDMA. Certain antibiotics may even cause one to falsely test positive for cocaine use.

Pro-drug testing zealots often fight for having drug testing in the workplace because it helps keep the cost of health insurance down for employees who choose not to use drugs. They argue that those who use drugs often have higher medical costs as a result of their substance use.

This idea proves false when considering the drugs that do cause health problems and physical addiction (ie: cocaine, amphetamines and opiates).

Usually, they do not show up in a urinalysis for more than two days after consumption, and in a saliva test for more than 12 hours, and therefore still will play a problem with employer drug testing since they will more than likely go undetected.

In all reality, drug testing only proves effective in catching those who use marijuana, which is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol. Unlike the two, it has not led to any recorded deaths, nor does it lead to physical dependency, brain damage and the decline of organs.

Now, marijuana should not be ignored all together, as long as one does it in his or her own recreational time and not while working.

All and all, current drug testing policies are wrong. If drug testing is allowed to be part of the workplace, it should be advanced to target those who are intoxicated at the time of testing and not those who choose to intoxicate themselves in their own private time.

by Nicholas Baker
The Clackamas Print