RESIST THOSE SEARCHES

To the editor:

Re: Workplace drug testing is beneficial, letter,
Feb. 13.

Responding to Robyn Blumner's column Junk science drove America to
drug testing, Calvina Fay of the Drug Free America Foundation Inc.
says, "Blumner obviously knows nothing about drug testing . . ."

I say Fay knows nothing about the U.S. Constitution! And the same goes
for judges, politicians and individuals who have turned it on its head
to try to fix a complicated problem with a fast, easy and immoral solution!

Okay, Ms. Fay, let's say you had to apply for a new job tomorrow, and
the company said, "We will have to conduct a search of your house, to
see if you possess any stolen goods." I suppose you would gladly open
the door and let them go through your closets and drawers, with nary a
thought about "probable cause" or "search warrant." Maybe you would
say, I'll just go on to another job. But what if every job had the
same requirement?

I cannot understand how people have willingly given up their right to
the protection against "unreasonable search and seizure" and will pee
in a cup at the drop of a hat. Do you realize what information about
yourself and your family you have given to a total stranger? Not only
can they tell if residuals of drug use are in your system, but they
can also tell what legal drugs you are using and a myriad of physical
and medical problems that you and your relatives suffer from. You
don't even want to think about what they will be able to learn from
your urine in the future, perhaps using the information to deny you
medical coverage!

This is big business. There are thousands of people profiting from the
drug testing industry, perhaps even Calvina Fay.

You may say these rights do not exist in the workplace, they only
exist to protect us against government intrusion. But I say they are
implied as a protection of the very fabric of our lives.

There are plenty of remedies for discovering drug users in the
workplace and for weeding them out. It's called good management. But
trampling on the Constitution is not one of them! It is un-American!