Drug Testing

Okay, in this day and age, drug testing is everywhere. Pre-employment, high-school, random, etc. How do you feel about this?

What about this: You decide to smoke some weed over the weekend, in the privacy of your own home. You stay at home, have a good time and maybe watch a late-night Friday movie. THEN… on Monday morning, you get hit with a surprise U.A. Which, no doubt, comes up positive for weed, and you fail the test. Then all hell breaks loose and you have to face the consequences. Is this fair? Isn’t what you do to your own body and what you put into it your own business, and nobody else’s?

Do you think this same logic should apply across the board? Let’s say for Meth users, or Heroin addicts?

And how about this: How long after getting high is it okay to go  to your job, and expect to be able to do your job proficiently and with 100% ability?

Let’s not just limit this agreement to drugs for a minute. Let’s take a look at the weekend drinker, or even the ‘alcoholic’. Let’s say he gets shitfaced on Sunday night, putting away a couple six-packs or some mixed drinks. Good chance that when he wakes up in the morning, if he’s not faced with a hangover, it’s probably safe to say he’s not firing on all cylinders and maybe a little slow or groggy. He might be in worse off shape then the pot smoker; however, if he’s given a drug test when he gets to work, he’s going to pass it. Is that fair?

Let’s say you’ve got a job that requires a high degree of attention and mentality. Say, maybe an Air Traffic Flight Controller, or the surgeon that’s at the E.R. who is going to be assigned to a loved one of yours for a delicate operation. Are you comfortable with the fact that he’s been high as a kite during the weekend, polluting his body with drugs? Hey, remember, it’s ‘his own body, and he’s not hurting anybody else”.

So, how long after using is it okay to go back to your job and resume your duties? If you’re the guy or girl who bags my food at the supermarket, or the person making my burger at Jack-In-The-Box, I’m really not to  concerned with your ability to do your job. However, if you’re the guy who I’m putting my life in his hands while he performs brain surgery on after being in a car accident, I gotta confess; I’m more than a little worried.

What are your thoughts on this?

One last thing to consider; let’s say you’re a pot smoker and maybe you haven’t used in a week or two. Then comes the call offering you the ideal job that you hadn’t planned on being called about. The one you’ve dreamed of getting, and probably won’t have offered to you again if you pass on it now. Now, considering that THC can stay in your system for 30 days and sometime longer, and one of the terms of being hired is that you pass a pre-employment drug test.  What are you going to do?

These are just a couple of things to consider when you take the stance that ‘what you put into your body isn’t anybody else’s business, and you’re not hurting anybody else”. The reality of it is, maybe you could be hurting somebody else, maybe not, but one thing’s for sure, you could be hurting yourself.

Hey! You stink!

I have a friend who’s been a long time job recruiter. Working at a company that placed numerous contract employees per week, one day her boss came in and asked everyone in the office: “Hey! Who placed ‘so-and-so’ at that job site?” She meekly raised her hand and said: “I did.”

“Well, call him up”, her boss said, “and tell him he stinks. His coworkers have been complaining about his body odor”.

Hopefully, you’ve never gotten a call like that, or had a co-worker mention their olfactory senses have been offended by you. But that might only mean you’ve been lucky enough to work with tolerant and polite co-workers. It can be a problem, especially in a closed environment, like an office pool, or cubical settings.

Here’s a couple of things to consider: Just because YOU don’t notice it, or realize it, you still could smell. If you’ve got any doubt, ask someone you’re close to and won’t be offended by if they tell you so. Do NOT try to cover the smell of body odor with perfume or cologne. The only thing worse than sitting close to somebody that smells like B.O. is sitting next to somebody with massive amounts of perfume on that’s trying to cover up that smell. One word here: Shower!

Another thing: more and more companies and workplaces are taking a zero-tolerance regarding colognes, perfumes and sprays. And for good reasons. One: some people are allergic to such things, and second, some people just don’t know the word, ‘moderation’.

One last thing: Cigarette smoke and smell. As a smoker myself, I try to respect those who I work with. I know how offensive it can be. I keep a small spray container of ‘Axe’ personal body spray either in my briefcase or in a desk drawer. When I go out to smoke, I take this with me and use it (moderately, of course) before returning to my desk. I don’t know the ‘female equivalent’ of this product, but I’m sure it exists. If your place of employment has a ‘no-scent’ policy, you can always consider ‘FeBreze’ or an equivalent product. These seem to work quite well, and your co-workers will be eternally grateful. Even if they don’t say anything to you.