Some fights have no winners, only losers.

And the taxpayers of New Jersey are about to foot the bill for one.
The battle results from the state attorney general's unwillingness to
examine the employee drug-testing policy and his refusal to consider
implementing safeguards to protect the innocent, as the federal
government did to protect all federal employees.

Recently, I was terminated from my position as a state corrections
officer because of a urine drug test that resulted in a positive
reading for opiates.

I continue to argue that I do not take any drugs - over-the-counter,
prescribed or illegal - that could cause such a reading.

The results of the tests differ.

The state's lab shows a level of approximately 620 nanograms per
milliliter, and my lab, which tested a second sample of the same
urine, showed an approximate level of 860 ng/ml. The state cutoff
level is 300 ng/ml. In 1998, the federal government raised its cut off
from 300 ng/mi to 2,000 ng/ml due to false positives resulting from
over?the?counter medications and ingestion of foods containing poppy
seeds.

The federal government also requires that a donor who tests positive
for opiates be interviewed and examined by a medical review officer
before being accused of illegal drug use. Federal guidelines followed
class poses some unique challenges with regard to interpreting a
positive test result." It goes on to state that a positive reading may
be a result of a donor eating poppy seeds.

Even a state witness. the director off the state toxicology laboratory
in Newark, testified at my departmental hearing that the reason for a
positive opiate reading could not be concluded and agreed that the
diet could elevate opiate levels. He said there did not appear to be
drug abuse.

There are those who routinely have coffee and a donut for breakfast
and those who prefer the egg-and-pork-roll sandwich.

I am a coffee-and-poppy-seed-bagel kinda guy. I didn't realize it
would cost me my job and health benefits for me and my daughter.

I didn't realize that the state cutoff level for opiates was so low as
to strip me of my badge a week before Christmas and smear my
reputation as a law enforcement officer, father and community member.

I call on the attorney general to review the cutoff levels and
implement a medical review procedure.

I call on the Governor and corrections commissioner to address these
concerns.

And I call on the taxpayers to demand answers to why they are forced
to pay for defending this policy.

I am willing to fight in the federal courts if necessary.

I am willing to spend whatever money I can afford to battle this
injustice.

Are we, the taxpayers, willing to do the same?

Reginald Fredette,
Jackson, NJ