TRAIN DRIVERS CALL FOR 'DRUG BREAKS'

TRAIN drivers could need more free time to enable them to take
recreational drugs if they were to be legalised, a rail union said
last night.

Aslef, which last week won a new deal on lesser working hours for
drivers after threatening a series of one-day strikes, called for
"discreet blocks of time" to be inserted into crew rotas. These would
allow drivers successive days away from work and end a situation in
which some staff are claimed to be working 12 days in a row without
time to relax.

Mick Rix, the union's general secretary, was reported as saying that
the proposals would also take into account the effects of recreational
drugs on drivers to allow them time to recover. However, Aslef said
last night that the comments referred only to a "hypothetical situation".

The comments formed part of a general demand for working hours to be
arranged to allow drivers to lead a "normal social life" within
current rules, which ban any alcohol consumption 24 hours before
attending work. As well as reflecting the effects of drinking alcohol,
Rix suggested the new rules would take into account the effects of
recreational drugs. "We have to anticipate the situation where we are
going to get train drivers that also want to take drugs," Rix was
reported as saying. "We have to try to get sufficient time off so that
if a driver does . . . indulge in recreational drugs, he does it
without impacting upon work."

Some drivers would want to take drugs "as the use of recreational
drugs becomes more widespread". In further controversial remarks, Rix
appeared to link potential drug use with drivers from ethnic minority
backgrounds. "We have to accept that [drug-taking] is part of their
culture," he was reported to have said.

Aslef said last night that Rix's remarks did not amount to a tacit
approval of drivers taking recreational drugs, which is at present
contrary to all current legislation. A spokesman said: "We are not
talking about time off for drivers who might be taking drugs. We are
talking about the current situation in which policy prevents drivers
from having a reasonable and normal social life.

"The comments about drugs deal with a completely hypothetical
situation. We are certainly not encouraging drivers to break current
rules or legislation on drugs and alcohol."

Under current rules governing public transport drivers, staff must
test negative for alcohol 24 hours before they are due to attend work.
They can also be tested when turning up for work if there is suspicion
that they may be unfit for duty.