News (Media Awareness Project) - CN QU: Column: False Positive Drug Test Hurts Prospective |
| Title: | CN QU: Column: False Positive Drug Test Hurts Prospective |
| Published On: | 2012-01-10 |
| Source: | Montreal Gazette (CN QU) |
| Fetched On: | 2012-01-12 06:01:28 |
FALSE POSITIVE DRUG TEST HURTS PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEE
Dear Annie: A few years ago, I was ready to begin
a new job pending a drug test and was told to
call a few days after for my start date. I live
cleanly and don't touch drugs or alcohol.
I contacted the company and left a voicemail. I
called again the next day. This went on for a
week until I finally managed to get a real person
on the phone. She said my drug test was positive
and I was ineligible for employment. I protested
and asked for a re-test. She said they wouldn't
do that and the job had already been given to someone else.
Now I am in the job market again and rightly am
concerned about drug testing. I still don't know
what caused my false positive. I've researched
the issue and found that cold medicines, pain
relievers, prescription medication and even an
individual's normal body chemistry could cause a false positive.
So here's my dilemma: If I should be offered a
job contingent upon a drug test and I decline to
take the test, I won't get the job. But if I take
the test and get a false positive, I risk losing
the job and also losing my unemployment benefits.
What should I do? =AD Innocent While "Proven" Guilty
Dear Innocent: Drug tests generally produce
false-positive results in 5 to 10 percent of
cases. Some perfectly legal substances, including
certain foods and prescription medications, can
produce false positives (e.g., poppy seed bagels,
some cold medications, antidepressants,
antibiotics and pain meds). The National
Institutes of Health encourages anyone who may
require a drug screening to ask your pharmacist
or health provider about specific medications
that might give a false-positive result. Inform
your potential employer in advance, and request
that they confirm the results through
gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
Dear Annie: I am a 14-year-old boy and have
always wanted really long hair, but my parents won't let me grow it out.
href=3D"http://adserver.adtechus.com/adlink/3.0/5235/1297475/0/170/ADTECH;co
okie=3Dinfo;loc=3D300;key=3Dkey1+key2+key3+key4;grp=3D13579"
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FEEDBACK
My two sisters are allowed to have long hair, but not me.
So my question is, why can girls have their hair
any length they want, but boys have to cut it
short? I don't think that's fair. =AD Dreaming of Long Hair
Dear Dreaming: Like it or not, people judge
others by their appearance, and for some, long
hair on a boy can seem effeminate, unprofessional
or the sign of a slacker. It also is an
unconventional look, and this may be why your
parents object. You could ask for a compromise =AD
perhaps grow it a little longer. But otherwise,
you simply will have to wait until you are out of
the house and can grow your hair as long as you
wish. But regardless of length, please keep it clean and well-groomed.
Dear Annie: As a regular reader, I am chagrined
that you have bought into the myth that women
lose interest in sex once they've gone through menopause.
Yes, some women do. But it is not a given. Older
women are fearful to talk about their strong
libido because there seems to be a taboo against
it. If women have less libido at any age, they
can be given testosterone by their doctors and again enjoy a full sex life.
Most often, the partners do not take each other's
sexual needs into consideration. Men can be
sexual klutzes for years, and wives may use
menopause as an excuse to deny them sex.
Please revise your thinking before saying that
menopause causes women to lose interest in sex. =AD Sex Therapist
Dear Therapist: You need a refresher course. The
vast majority of post-menopausal women DO lose
interest in sex. The very idea that they would
require hormone replacement therapy indicates
that the hormones are lacking. And many women
cannot safely take hormones, so your "solution"
isn't so simple. But we do agree that each spouse
should take the other's sexual needs into consideration.
Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and
Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column.
Dear Annie: A few years ago, I was ready to begin
a new job pending a drug test and was told to
call a few days after for my start date. I live
cleanly and don't touch drugs or alcohol.
I contacted the company and left a voicemail. I
called again the next day. This went on for a
week until I finally managed to get a real person
on the phone. She said my drug test was positive
and I was ineligible for employment. I protested
and asked for a re-test. She said they wouldn't
do that and the job had already been given to someone else.
Now I am in the job market again and rightly am
concerned about drug testing. I still don't know
what caused my false positive. I've researched
the issue and found that cold medicines, pain
relievers, prescription medication and even an
individual's normal body chemistry could cause a false positive.
So here's my dilemma: If I should be offered a
job contingent upon a drug test and I decline to
take the test, I won't get the job. But if I take
the test and get a false positive, I risk losing
the job and also losing my unemployment benefits.
What should I do? =AD Innocent While "Proven" Guilty
Dear Innocent: Drug tests generally produce
false-positive results in 5 to 10 percent of
cases. Some perfectly legal substances, including
certain foods and prescription medications, can
produce false positives (e.g., poppy seed bagels,
some cold medications, antidepressants,
antibiotics and pain meds). The National
Institutes of Health encourages anyone who may
require a drug screening to ask your pharmacist
or health provider about specific medications
that might give a false-positive result. Inform
your potential employer in advance, and request
that they confirm the results through
gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
Dear Annie: I am a 14-year-old boy and have
always wanted really long hair, but my parents won't let me grow it out.
href=3D"http://adserver.adtechus.com/adlink/3.0/5235/1297475/0/170/ADTECH;co
okie=3Dinfo;loc=3D300;key=3Dkey1+key2+key3+key4;grp=3D13579"
target=3D"_blank">
kie=3Dinfo;loc=3D300;key=3Dkey1+key2+key3+key4;grp=3D13579"
border=3D"0" width=3D"300" height=3D"250">
FEEDBACK
My two sisters are allowed to have long hair, but not me.
So my question is, why can girls have their hair
any length they want, but boys have to cut it
short? I don't think that's fair. =AD Dreaming of Long Hair
Dear Dreaming: Like it or not, people judge
others by their appearance, and for some, long
hair on a boy can seem effeminate, unprofessional
or the sign of a slacker. It also is an
unconventional look, and this may be why your
parents object. You could ask for a compromise =AD
perhaps grow it a little longer. But otherwise,
you simply will have to wait until you are out of
the house and can grow your hair as long as you
wish. But regardless of length, please keep it clean and well-groomed.
Dear Annie: As a regular reader, I am chagrined
that you have bought into the myth that women
lose interest in sex once they've gone through menopause.
Yes, some women do. But it is not a given. Older
women are fearful to talk about their strong
libido because there seems to be a taboo against
it. If women have less libido at any age, they
can be given testosterone by their doctors and again enjoy a full sex life.
Most often, the partners do not take each other's
sexual needs into consideration. Men can be
sexual klutzes for years, and wives may use
menopause as an excuse to deny them sex.
Please revise your thinking before saying that
menopause causes women to lose interest in sex. =AD Sex Therapist
Dear Therapist: You need a refresher course. The
vast majority of post-menopausal women DO lose
interest in sex. The very idea that they would
require hormone replacement therapy indicates
that the hormones are lacking. And many women
cannot safely take hormones, so your "solution"
isn't so simple. But we do agree that each spouse
should take the other's sexual needs into consideration.
Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and
Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column.
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