DRUG USE CAN CAUSE LONG-LASTING HARM TO A CAREER

Q: I have an MBA in finance, but my love is for paramedic work. I received
my national paramedic certification this year, graduating at the top of my
class.

I tried to get hired at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department this
fall, and although I got a 99 percent on the written test and passed the
physical in top categories, they won't hire me.

The problem is that nine years ago, when I was a student at the University
of Virginia, I took hallucinogenic mushrooms five times. As part of the
hiring procedure in Fairfax County, I had to take a polygraph test, and I
didn't want to lie. They say it is a policy in Fairfax County not to hire
people who have taken mushrooms because they say prior use might cause a
flashback. I got letters from four medical doctors saying that recreational
psilocybin does not cause flashbacks, but the department won't reconsider
my case.

I haven't touched a drug in nine years.

I really want to be a paramedic. I'm willing to take a pay cut because I'd
rather help people than spend my time increasing the value of a company's
stock. What do you think?

A: In 1988, Congress passed the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, which
made it illegal for private employers to use lie detectors as a
pre-employment screening tool. The issue hasn't been too controversial
because polygraphs are not deemed very reliable or accurate.

But, as Congress often does, it excluded public employers, including state,
local and federal agencies, so pre-employment polygraphs are used primarily
by government employers today--unless civil service rules prohibit them.

"A number of municipal local governments use them for all positions of
trust," said Gary Horewitz, manager of the emergency medical service
program in the government relations department of the Fairfax-based
International Association of Fire Chiefs. He said they are viewed as
helpful in choosing paramedics because workers who enter the homes of
people who are sick or disabled must be extremely trustworthy.

And Fairfax County, an affluent jurisdiction with state-of-the-art
equipment, can afford to be choosy. In 1998, the county had 1,155
applicants for 50 career firefighter slots.

Dan Schmidt, the county's director of public safety and life safety
education, wouldn't comment on the county's drug-use standards because he
said it is confidential personnel information. "Certain kinds of drug use
will get you disqualified," he said, adding that "medical standards and
protocols that have been done" indicate that hallucinogenic mushrooms pose
a potential lifelong hazard.

Others strongly disagree. Physician Robert L. DuPont, former director of
the National Institute on Drug Abuse and now vice president of Bennsigner,
DuPont & Associates, a consulting firm that helps firms cope with workplace
drug use, said Fairfax County's view on the effects of hallucinogenic
mushrooms is "ill-informed."

"Fairfax is entirely wrong about the question of flashbacks," DuPont said.

DuPont said drug use from nine years ago should probably not be considered
relevant. "How far back can you go?" he asked.

Bill Brown, director of the Columbus, Ohio-based National Registry of
Emergency Medical Technicians, urged the letter writer to look for a job
elsewhere because EMT departments have a continual need to fill paramedic
jobs, which require an unusual combination of mental acuity, agility and
physical strength.

"This woman sounds like the kind we need to get into EMS," he said. "There
are thousands of jobs and departments around the country that will love to
have her."

[Note: only the first question posted, as the others were not related]

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