Heartland

people should be allowed to use whatever they want (within reason) in their own time.

as long as they're not coming in pissed and stoned, and can do their job properly - they should be allowed to carry on no questions asked.

I'd agree with you, except having checked with him he's got a 2nd bottle of brandy start on me this evening...

It's a teacher thing...if they *must* take boring hippy drugs, I'd rather they then truanted & went play in the traffic rather than annoying me, is all...

I do none of the above d00m, I still get treated like I was in fifth grade or whatever they call it now.
I am also the only person within my section with a degree, only a BA (Hons) 1:1 with Dip M Siad, still it counts for nowt!
As Hall & Oates said in 'Gino" off of their 'Silver'/Gay album
Hard work means nothing
Live life
Die laughing

I never really thought about this issue to be honest. I don't smoke, drink alcohol and no drugs whatsoever, and in portugal i've never heard about that, random drugs testing, so it's kind of a new concept to me.
I guess if you're an air traffic controler, it would be best if you don't show up to work stoned or drunk, so i guess in certain situations a drug test would be acceptable, but on the other hand, if one enjoys a little weed from time to time and can still perform he's tasks perfectly, maybe it is an ivasion of privacy.
Umm have to think about this one.

Hi,

Im just like Zig, no drinking or smoking for me either, and ive never touched drugs of any persuasion throughout my entire life. I dont have a problem with other people experimenting though, its up to them what they do with their bodys.

Paddy.

I guess I'm luckier than most of you guys on this one. My boss (MD and sole owner of the company) is a massive coke-fiend, so he's hardly going to sack me for the occasional toot on a spliff

Black Planet wrote:I don't believe people should be made to compromise their values for the sake of employment.

People's values are, by definition, compromised by employment. "Will you do this thing that you don't really want to do if we give you this amount of money?"

mugabe wrote:People's values are, by definition, compromised by employment. "Will you do this thing that you don't really want to do if we give you this amount of money?"

Unfortunately, I sold my ass down the river 2 years ago, at 43 I had very little option.
Sometimes you have to suck Satan's d*ck, just to have your fun, it could be much worse, like, selling it to make ends meet.

The only thing I do for money is provide a service to my employer, which I do willingly. It's the unwilling things I object to. And I like my job, a lot. So I don't feel I've compromised my values.

Hey Eru,

I am not a drug user myself. But my ex was. He failed a drug test at his job for testing dirty. He had smoked pot and then to cover it up he bought one of those cocktails you buy at a headshop. This required a retest. The test did not come out positive but dirty from the cocktail this allowed him enought time to come out clean.
I understand your complaint but are there other people in your company who do operate machinery or come in cotact with the public;driving, working, etc., this may be a safety issue and the insurance companies may require it. In return your company cannot select just that group to be tested. It would have to test all of you.
Wish you well.

I've known a few drug users in my time.
Generally, they're bad news, but they can, like the drugs themselves, be quite entertaining in small doses.

In my place, if they introduced testing I'd say maybe 75% of people would be caught. A few tokes seems to be much more acceptable in Ireland than in some other countries though.

Having said that, alcohol does impair your judgement and affect your concentration far more, so maybe breathalysing at the door and sending anyone home if they're still over the limit from the night before would be better.

I would agree with most of the comments - it is unacceptable to arrive at your job under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and you most certainly should not operate machinery or provide any form of public service where people's lives are at risk if you are impaired.
Let's face it - it's not nice dealing with someone who stinks of alcohol.
I just find the whole random testing policy in an office a bit too Draconian.
I'm not so much worried about failing, as generally agravated by the whole corporate bullsh*t abuse of my civil liberties.