Would you submit to a drug test to get a job?

[thinkliberty]

another great song from Sam

[Russell Kanning]

if you are going to be a nurse .......

"Welcome to the Machine"

[Tom Sawyer]

I don't see how drug testing is against civil rights.  But I've done it many times before and would have no problem doing it again for a job.

If the test was to show intoxication on the job... but, it shows prior use in up to a 30 day time frame... with hair samples even longer.

[Lloyd Danforth]

I was a machine repair apprentice at a factory in Hartford in 1976. At lunch a line of men and women would go up to the Bar that was a couple hundred feet from the factory. The forklift guys went, the millright guys who carried heavy things around for me went, the guys and gals who fed small parts, often trying to beat piecework rates, into punch presses went.
I don't think Pot or, Coke was an issue at that factory, but if it had been, I bet myself and other likely candidates would have been under scrutiny.
My next and last job in 1991 was in the gaming community of Laughlin, NV. To work in casinos, gaming or non-gaming positions required one peeing in a bottle. I could pass, needed a job, and except for my wife and I driving all over the hills from Laughlin to Needles, CA and back as I drank a 6 pack of beer, so I could deliver a sample to the clinic, it was no problem.
In the casino I was hired as the painter, with the exception of the maintainance dept manager, all of the rest of the managers were into the company booze by 10am and seemed to be threatening the rest of us with drug tests.

[porcupine kate]

I have in the past and I might do a piss test in the future.  It would depend on the job and the company asking for it.
I feel the same way about background checks. 
When I had to do it I used my Costco card as a photo id and refused to give my social security number.  The lady was dumbfounded and didn't know what to do.  Apparently they used the SS# as ID numbers for the employer.   I told her if that was the case to use my ID number my work gave me to use in the register.  She did and it was not an issue for my employer.  Once my employer got to know me I didn't ever have to take another one.  I think my name got pulled for the random testing once and the manager and owner told me not to waste the time going since they knew my teetotaler ways.

The best way I have found to avoid testing is to look for work with very small companies that are not regulated by the feds, state or work for a pot smoker.

 

[Pat McCotter]

The president of a power producer company in Hartford I worked for in the late 80s told us at a meeting that there would be "no drug testing; we would lose too many good people" if testing was done.

[Raineyrocks]

Thanks everybody for the replies.     I think for now I decided I don't want to be an LNA anymore not just because of the drug tests but because I don't think it's what I want to do.   My mother asked me what I wanted to do and I told her that I really had no idea which is the truth except for writing a book but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it.  My sister and I were wondering, (yes she finally called me back a 2nd time after the last time), why we didn't know what we wanted to do and had trouble sticking to the same old thing.  I told her I just flat out didn't want to work for someone else unless I positively have to, she doesn't either.   

She has 3 websites she put up after quitting her job and is trying to see what comes out of that, she's smarter than me with that stuff so I hope it works for her if she's happy.  I thought she would be upset after quitting her job, she said, "No way, I've been there for 4 years and it was time to move on and do something different with my life."

I used to work for 3 different temporary secretary places years ago in Philly and I really liked that because it was a different place, doing different stuff all the time.  I had a few of the places offer me a job and I turned them down because I really enjoyed different experiences. 

My sister did call me a loser for not taking the LNA job though.    

[brycen]

I don't see how drug testing is against civil rights.  But I've done it many times before and would have no problem doing it again for a job.

It's only a violation of rights if it's government mandated. Otherwise the employer has the right to put whatever terms of employment they want to on a job offer.

I took a drug test for my current job. But then again, I don't use anything. This will keep me from trying anything at Porcfest, but I didn't really want to anyway. If we have an accident at work we have to do another drug test, and a positive result means an automatic denial of workman's comp, meaning they assume the recent drug use caused the accident.

[Alex Libman]

Even in a 100% free society, a lot of private schools, clubs, employers, landlords, etc would still have policies against drugs.  Furthermore, a lot of people would feel the need to maintain "reputation wikis" and offer reputation-based witness testimonials or evidence if they accuse you of using drugs, which a future employer might check at a later time.  A lot of people would counteract such accusations with certification services from reputable medical authorities.

[Scott Roth]

An employer has the right to demand anything of you, if you want to work for him.  So, as to the question of a drug test?  If that is what is being asked of me in favor of employment, yes I would.  Doesn't bother me...I don't use drugs.

[Pat K]

Who would I have to piss on in this test?

[jerry]

Who would I have to piss on in this test?

The last time I was asked to provide a sample for a drug test my response was "Sure; lie down and open your mouth."

I remember sitting at the negotiating table in the early 70's when my union president said to the company rep: "I don't care if I've got a needle sticking out of my arm, you STILL have NO RIGHT to force me to take a drug test."

And, if the law has not changed, the company can certify a drug-free workplace by having the employees sign a statement that they do not abuse drugs.  Actual drug tests are superfluous.