ONE STRIKE, AND YOU'RE OUT?

Three Firefighters Pay A Steep Price For A Stupid Mistake

If an Ohioan is caught with a small amount of marijuana, the punishment
resembles that for a speeding ticket: a $100 fine and no jail time. In
Akron, the punishment can be far more severe if you're a member of the
safety forces. Three Akron firefighters with a total of 63 years of
experience have been forced out of work because they tested positive for
marijuana. They were not under the influence on the job. That brings to 10
the number of firefighters who have lost their jobs because of the city's
drug policy.

While everyone involved regrets the incident, officials say their hands are
tied because the city's policy against drug use, hardened in 1998,
eliminates any leeway.

Granted, these are public servants who knew the rules and should have known
better than to do something so dumb. Firefighters and police officers should
be held to a higher standard of conduct. But when state law refuses to draw
such a harsh line, it would seem the policy could be revised to allow for an
element of discretion.

Indeed, in a 1999 case, an Akron police officer who admitted smoking
marijuana was reinstated after being fired. That suggests something
reasonably short of absolute zero tolerance.

The Akron drug court gives minor offenders an opportunity to turn their
lives around. Shouldn't the city extend something appropriately similar to
dedicated employees who make a stupid but very human mistake?