SOME ON USM FACULTY SAY NEW DRUG POLICY IS OVERLY RESTRICTIVE

No Detectable Level Of Alcohol Or Drugs Allowed On Job

HATTIESBURG - The University of Southern Mississippi has adopted a new
drug policy, but some faculty and staff say it's too stringent.

The substance abuse policy prohibits employees from reporting to work
or remaining on the job with any detectable level of alcohol or
illegal drugs in their systems.

"The standards it sets are outrageous," said Frank Glamser, president
of the Southern Miss chapter of the American Association of University
Professors. "Does it mean if you have a beer with your Mexican lunch,
you're in trouble? If you have a cognac-laced cherry, are you in
trouble? If you have a few beers at night and come in early, are you
in trouble?"

Southern Miss officials approved the policy Nov. 3 and began
distributing it by mail this week. Employees are required to sign
forms that they have read and understand the policy.

The policy gives the university the right for periodic testing of
employees in law enforcement, public health or safety, those with
national security clearance or who have access to sensitive
information and those who use vehicles or heavy equipment or whose
work presents a safety hazard. Risk management director Jack Hanbury
wrote the document to bring the university into compliance with the
federal Drug Free Workplace Act.

"There wasn't any particular incident that led to this," he said. "If
you look at the studies, you will find the major reasons for the
increase in workplace injuries is the consumption of alcohol or drugs.
That presents a danger not only to the employee but to
co-workers."

The university could lose millions of dollars in federal funding if
its policy doesn't comply with the act, university spokeswoman Lisa
Mader said.

Mader would not discuss hypothetical situations such as the beer with
lunch mentioned by Glamser.

"I would suggest that they don't drink a beer during lunch," Hanbury
said.

Any employee who is tested and found to have a detectable amount of an
illegal drug or alcohol in his or her body is subject to discipline,
up to and including discharge, the policy states.

"I honestly think that if I go home and have a drink or imbibe illegal
substances and come in the next day and my performance is not
affected, it's not the university's business," said Stephen Judd,
associate theater and dance professor.

The policy also prohibits the possession on university premises of
contraband illegal drugs, illicit drugs, alcoholic beverages, drug
paraphernalia, lethal weapons, firearms, incendiaries, stolen property
and pornographic materials.