420
Founder
Regarding David Chapman's Oct. 30 column on drug testing, there is far more at stake than liberty. Random drug testing in the workplace may do more harm than good. The invasive tests may compel users of relatively harmless marijuana to switch to harder drugs like methamphetamine to avoid testing positive. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent.
Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days. Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. An employee who uses meth on Friday night will likely test clean on Monday morning. If you think drug users don't know this, think again. Anyone capable of running a search on the Internet can find out how to thwart a drug test.
The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely associated with violence is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. Hangovers don't contribute to workplace safety and counterproductive drug tests do absolutely nothing to discourage the No. 1 drug problem.
Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, D.C.
Source: Forum. The (ND)
Copyright: 2005 Forum Communications Co.
Contact: letters@forumcomm.com
Website: https://www.in-forum.com/
Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days. Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. An employee who uses meth on Friday night will likely test clean on Monday morning. If you think drug users don't know this, think again. Anyone capable of running a search on the Internet can find out how to thwart a drug test.
The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely associated with violence is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. Hangovers don't contribute to workplace safety and counterproductive drug tests do absolutely nothing to discourage the No. 1 drug problem.
Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, D.C.
Source: Forum. The (ND)
Copyright: 2005 Forum Communications Co.
Contact: letters@forumcomm.com
Website: https://www.in-forum.com/
