Cannabis
Related: About this forumWhy Do Employers Still Routinely Drug-Test Workers?
Given that most other drugs and byproducts clear much faster, this is basically anti-marijuana
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/34297-why-do-employers-still-routinely-drug-test-workers
Increasing numbers of employers are doing some sort of drug-testing, says Barry Sample, the aptronymic director of science and technology for the Employer Solutions business unit of Quest Diagnostics. These days it is rather uniform across many, many employment sectors. Most of the larger corporations, and mostif not allof the Fortune 500 have some sort of drug-testing. In all, Sample estimates that some 45 to 50 million workplace drug tests are taken annually in the U.S., making up a massive industry in biomedical HR.
The practice has recently begun to creep in new directions. The drug test has long been a condition of employment for a large proportion of Americas workface; now, more and more, its a condition of unemployement benefits, too. In November, lawmakers in West Virginia discussed a bill to drug test anyone applying for a state-controlled welfare programs. Ohio lately held a set of hearings on the same thing. And Wisconsin started screening applicants for jobs training and food stamps. At least a dozen other states already have such laws in place, and at least a dozen have proposed the same in every year since 2009, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
This broad and retro culture of drug testing seems at odds with the growing disengagement from our long and painful War on Drugs. States are legalizing marijuana, and its use is on the rise; politicians now evince broad support for undoing policies that filled our prisons with harmless drug offenders. Yet despite this shift in strategy and realignment of our values, the drug testing of employeesperformed at great expense to both the public and private sectorsremains routine.
That might make sense if testing yielded clear benefits to the companies that deploy it or to society at large. But heres the most distressing fact about drug testing in the workplace: As was the case 30 years ago, testing has no solid base of evidence, no proof that it succeeds. We dont know if screening workers for recent drug use makes them more productive, lowers their risk of getting into accidents, or otherwise helps maintain the social order. And what positive effects we do understandthere are indeed a fewseem almost accidental. They may not be worth the time and money and intrusion.
randys1
(16,286 posts)The capitalist system allows and encourages the employer or corp to hold ALL the card, make ALL the decisions and fuck you over every fucking time.
It is insane that we tolerate it.
Warpy
(113,130 posts)Of course they're not worth it for the stated reasons. It's one of the stupid things the ruling class uses to sleep better at night. They think employees who toke up on weekends won't work as fast.
safeinOhio
(34,007 posts)for a job at an adult book store and had to pee in a cup. I passed and figured that was why I didn't get the job.
bluedigger
(17,145 posts)There is a lot of profit to gain in discouraging marijuana use. Here in SW Colorado you can't get a job as a convenience store clerk without being tested. Unless you are a young professional, self employed, working in the mj industry directly, or not in the job market at all, legalization is a bad joke when it comes to being employable.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)It's something they've been doing for years and some asshole MBA or house lawyer says if they stop doing it they might be liable for... something. And the bosses are terrified of getting out on the golf course and their "peers" question them for their bad judgment in hiring druggies.
American business at its finest.
TeddyR
(2,493 posts)And UPS, American Airlines and other similarly situated employers don't want someone who is high putting their customers at risk.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)I worked at a place that did not drug test until after ninety days.
Sure enough, you got the biggest bunch of sociopaths, psychopaths, people on edge looking for a fight. Lazy. Incompetent. Pill head. Drunkards. Some of the worst people I've ever met.
I will never work for a place that does not drug test ever again.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)These people worked like shit and constantly fucked up parts.
The place lost alot of business, and now they only run one shift.
The shitty druggy people ruined things for everyone else.
These were not the kind of people that needed medical marijuana.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)You don't have the faintest idea of what you're talking about.
Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)Did you even bother to read my posts?
I was there. I saw it happen on a consistent basis.
These weren't really pot smokers anyway. This were more pill heads and meth heads that always inexplicably get hired.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)It's nice that you've changed your tune about what substances your asshole coworkers were using, but that's a brand new element you've introduced to the conversation. If your erstwhile coworkers were assholes, it wasn't because of weed. There are lots of successful and high functioning dope smokers around you; you're just ignorant of that fact.
Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)I mentioned drunks and pills head in the first post I made in the thread.
There is a difference between light smokers and dope heads. Dope heads cause problems.
Sounds like the HR needs to be tested for hiring all those shitty people.
Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)insurance was why they tested at all.
Fail the drug test, get fired, come back in a week. The people up front were nop better than the people on the floor. So glad I don't work there.
tazkcmo
(7,419 posts)By drug testing they satisfy insurance requirements. Also, if you get hurt on the job, they always test for drugs, especially pot, so they don't have to pay for the treatment of the injury and can just fire you.