DRUG TESTING IN THE WORKPLACE

Drug testing in the workplace should be brought in only after full
consultation with staff and unions, and within the context of a clear
policy on what to do in the event of a positive result.

The unreliability of the evidence provided by drug tests could have serious
consequences for workers, especially cannabis users, who should be aware
that they could lose their job, their driving licence or worse because of
an unsafe test.

A positive test result for cannabis can be produced after passive
inhalation, consumption of foods containing hemp seed or its oils, legal
medications or the ingestion of cannabis even after months previously.

The greatest shortcoming is their inability to determine impairment at the
time the test was taken. Unlike the breathalyser which can accurately
detect alcohol impairment, drug tests cannot.

It wouldn't be legal to dismiss someone because they had tested positive
for cannabis because the tests themselves are known to be unsafe.

Scientific studies of the effects of driving performance after smoking
cannabis carried out in the Netherlands and in Australia, have long ago
declared that the detrimental effects are tiny, and the Dutch government,
which allows cannabis use and sale from certain outlets, has no special
laws for drivers who smoke it.

So why use unnecessary tests that produce unreliable results?

Carl Wagner