Web posted Saturday, January 27, 2001

PASS OR FAIL?

Businesses increasingly require urine samples for employment By
Shannon Lynch Savannah Morning News

The days of just sending out a resume, having an interview and
starting a new job are fading. For many, there's another requirement:
passing a drug test.

These days, you'll likely face one if you apply for work, especially
at a big company or a government agency.

For example, about 4,800 Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. employees had to
pass pre-employment drug tests. So did 400 Savannah Morning News
employees.

Many employers test workers randomly and after workplace accidents.
They also test after worker behavior triggers suspicion that they're
using illegal substances.

It's all part of a national trend that has drawn complaints about
invasion of privacy, a concern that most employers think is trumped
by the promise of safer, more productive workplaces.

The trend dates to 1986, when President Ronald Reagan ordered federal
agencies to urine test employees. Since then, more and more private
and public institutions have used some form of drug testing. Last
year, more than 60 percent of major American companies did so, the
American Management Society reported.

Widespread testing has been a boon to companies such as Health
Awareness Enterprises, which collects specimens for drug testing. The
Garden City firm has seen its business grow exponentially in the last
10 years, manager Jim Connett said. Though the lab is doing more
testing, fewer tests are coming back positive, he said.

How they do it

Most companies use urinalysis, but use of hair samples is increasing,
Connett said. While some businesses, such as Kennickell Print and
Communications, test employees on-site, most send workers to
companies such as Health Awareness Enterprises to have urine, hair or
blood collected and tested.

Tests typically target marijuana, PCP, amphetamines, opiates and
cocaine, said Dr. Robert Balsley, who has practiced occupational
medicine for the past 15 years. Some employers, such as Memorial
Health University Medical Center, also require applicants to consent
to testing for barbiturates, methadone, methaqualone,
benzodiazepines, propoxyphene and phencyclidine.

Although it's more expensive, testing hair rather than urine can
detect illegal substances much longer after they're used.

That's one reason why every applicant at the Westin Savannah Harbor
Resort must pass a hair test for amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine
and marijuana, said Eric Witcher, human resources director.

"If you do cocaine Friday, by Monday it has leached out of your
system, and there is no residue" in urine, Witcher said. "However,
it's still recorded in your hair. It's kind of like rings on a tree.
There's more opportunity to see what a person's trend of living is
like."

Employer curiosity about a person's "trend of living" worries some
workers and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. And
other problems with testing hair make urinalysis a safer bet, Balsley
said.

Examples: Cocaine shows up in higher concentrations in female than in
male hair and darker hair than in light hair. And, of course, someone
with no hair can't be tested.

Also, people with long hair who test positive and complete treatment
programs still could fail two months later even if they're clean.
That's not fair, Balsley said.

"It's a lawsuit waiting to happen," he said. "It's just not as clean
as doing urinalysis."

Drugs Don't Work

Though productivity and safety are the main reasons employers say
they drug test workers, Georgia offers another powerful incentive:
money.

Eight years ago, Georgia began a program called Drugs Don't Work.
Companies that participate get a 7.5 percent discount on their
workers' compensation insurance premiums.

To get a workers' compensation insurance discount, a business must:

* Have a substance abuse policy.

* Conduct drug tests.

* Complete two hours of employee education each year.

* Complete two hours of supervisor training a year.

* Have an employee assistance program for drug problems or maintain a
list of counseling centers workers can use.

In Savannah, only 72 of 2,000 businesses that belong to the Chamber
of Commerce participate in the program. Statewide, 3,333 companies
are certified, according to the Department of Labor. Many other
companies may drug test without meeting state requirements to get an
insurance reduction.

"As more companies find out about the reduction in their liability
rates for becoming a drug-free workplace, it's a good motivation to
participate," Connett said.

Drug testing must be done before a person is hired, after accidents,
on reasonable suspicion and post-treatment if applicable. Random drug
testing isn't required, but many participating companies do it anyway.

But is the program ethical?

"It's a strange thing to me, insurance companies imposing a policy by
offering a discount," said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of
the Atlanta ACLU. "It's certainly questionable whether drug testing
would reduce workplace accidents. There are better ways to test
whether someone can operate safely."

Chuck Wade, who runs the Drugs Don't Work program through the Georgia
Chamber of Commerce, doesn't think businesses should drug test
employees just to get the insurance discount. He says they should do
it to stop this country from going the way of the Roman Empire --
destruction from within.

"But if you will not do it for love of country, please do it to save
money," Wade urged business owners at a recent chamber meeting in
Savannah.

Studies show that 77 percent of drug users are employed, Wade said,
and denying them jobs is the best way to attack the drug problem.
Drug testing also increases productivity, slashes medical costs by
300 percent, boosts morale, and curbs theft, tardiness and
absenteeism, Wade said.

Al Kennickell, who owns Kennickell Print and Communications, also
told chamber members how testing his 100 employees has helped his
business. The workers' compensation discount saves him money on
insurance premiums, he said, and drug-free workers are better workers.

"We learned the hard way that if people have a drug problem, they
also typically have a cash problem," Kennickell said. "People will
steal from you, arrange to work overtime and even create work to work
overtime. It drives everything they do."

The cost of testing

But the ACLU argues that the costs of drug testing are too high. In
its 1999 report "Drug Testing: A Bad Investment," the ACLU challenges
studies that claim drug users costs businesses billions of dollars.

It actually costs a company $77,000 to find one drug user, the ACLU
reported, and someone who uses drugs moderately on his own time is no
less productive than someone who drinks alcohol moderately after work.

Area employers who drug test say the cost of drug testing is worth
it. The actual test usually costs $20 to $40.

"We think it pays for itself in the long run, with our safety record
and insurance premiums," Westin's Witcher said. "We only had one time
where we lost time for an accident last year, and it was only a
couple of days."

The Westin spends $35 each to test its 250 or so applicants a year,
he said, at a cost of nearly $9,000.

Ray Gaster, owner of Gaster Lumber and Hardware, said he spends about
$1,500 a year to test 90 employees. But that saves him almost $4,000
because of the workers' compensation discount. He thinks drug-free
workers are more productive.

"Drug testing is a must for any business person," Gaster said. "Some
people tell me if they drug test they won't get any employees. I say,
'OK, if you want a bunch of potheads working for you, that's what
you're going to get.' "

No definitive studies have weighed the cost of drug testing against
improved productivity, said Leslie Hough, executive director of the
W.J. Usery Center for the Workplace at Georgia State University,
which studies workplace issues. But many managers who notice a
dropoff in productivity are quick to point to drug use as the cause,
Hough said.

"There are strong advocates of drug testing who posit it's worth it
whatever it costs, but I'm not aware of statistical information
either way for that conclusion," Hough said. "I think generally drug
testing is almost an ideological issue, with widely divergent
attitudes toward it."

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