NOT ALL DRUGS ARE THE SAME

Suggestions made by two top labor union officials this week came perilously
close to "enabling" drug abuse in the work force.

While testifying during a meeting of the Legislature's Joint House-Senate
Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement, President Harold Dias of the state
AFL-CIO said the typical "two strikes" drug policy at most companies "is
archaic, unrealistic, counterproductive (and) punitive."

Eric Gill, financial secretary-treasurer of the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant
Employees Local 5, was quoted as stressing the need to focus on drug abusers
and not on all those who use drugs.

Employers should have a self-interest in creating and maintaining an
effective work force. That includes a responsibility on the part of top
management - which sets policies - to be aware of working conditions that
may include unnecessary stress leading to drug abuse. The work environment
should be conducive to employees seeking and getting help before their
function is impaired.

This is not entirely a new problem. Alcoholism and marijuana and cocaine use
have been chronic work-force problems for decades. In terms of work
functionality and addiction, these older drugs are mild compared to the
reported effects of crystal methamphetamine, or ice.

Government's role in all of this should be limited to establishing harsh
punishment for anyone profiting from the manufacture, distribution or sale
of ice and to supporting the creation of effective rehabilitation for users.
As shown by the Maui and Oahu drug courts, a part of effective
rehabilitation for those addicted to ice is the threat of prison if the
individual fails to follow a strict regimen of counseling and drug testing.

In the private work force, the primary test must be functionality and a
willingness to seek treatment before use becomes abuse. The only enforcement
threat an employer should have is the loss of the job, and in some cases
that is what it will take before an individual admits and begins to deal
with his or her drug problem.

>From an employer's standpoint, it all begins with treating employees as
human beings instead of faceless cogs in a machine, offering help when
requested without punishment.