EVERETT FOLLOWS SEATTLE'S LEAD, DROPS DRUG TESTS FOR MOST JOBSEEKERS

Everett has become the latest municipality in the state to drop a
requirement that everyone applying for a local government job be tested for
illegal drugs.

As in Seattle, which dropped a similar requirement last month, the change
was made because of a state Court of Appeals ruling that the Seattle
ordinance was an invasion of privacy that violated the state Constitution.

Drug-testing policies also have been revised in Tacoma and Bellingham since
the court ruling in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"As soon as we heard about the ruling, we stopped doing testing," Everett
city spokeswoman Dale Preboski said. "Whether it's a good thing or not is a
whole other issue. We believed it was a valuable tool."

New policies to reflect the change will be adopted soon, City Attorney Mark
Soine said.

Starting in 1989, all prospective Everett city employees were subject to a
drug test before starting work. The requirement still applies to police,
firefighters and workers who must have commercial driver's licenses,
positions that were not covered by the court ruling.