CONTROVERSIAL DRUG TEST WON'T BE USED AT DJJ

Ever since Gov. Bob Martinez took the first employee drug test, the issue
of who and how to check for clean kidneys has been a touchy topic.

State workers resent the implication that they might be abusing alcohol or
illegal drugs. That's why the state's drug-free workplace law generally
allows mandatory testing for employees in "safety sensitive" positions,
like law enforcement, but otherwise limits urinalysis to cases of
reasonable suspicion.

All in all, it seems to work pretty well. There hasn't been a witch hunt,
with employees presumed guilty until they prove themselves innocent, nor
has the Medellin cartel opened a drive-through window in the Capitol basement.

But the Department of Juvenile Justice recently tried to take the tests a
big step beyond what we've known for the past 12 years. DJJ Secretary Bill
Bankhead, a sponsor of the Martinez drug-testing policy when he was in the
Legislature, wanted to make selected employees wear a "sweat patch" for
seven days at a time - to see if their bodies were secreting any tell-tale
signs of drug use.

Maybe it was the budget cuts that prevented it. Maybe an employee backlash
changed his mind. Maybe department officials just figured that, unless you
made people wear short-sleeved shirts or put the patch on their foreheads,
there was no way to be sure they weren't secretly letting someone else
secrete for them.

Whatever the reason, DJJ has relented and entered into an agreement to
stick to urine testing. The department signed a "memorandum of agreement"
with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that
calls off the patch patrol.

"We're in a business where we deal with a lot of youngsters who have
problems with drugs, and I thought we should hold ourselves out as an
example," Bankhead said. "As a general policy, I believe drug testing is
good for folks in state government."

Suntia White, a DJJ food service worker in Marianna, said he and his
coworkers "are totally against it" for two reasons. He said drugs aren't a
problem among DJJ employees, who know they can be tested because their jobs
are "safety sensitive," and that employees believe the patch wouldn't work
anyway.

"They're not going to follow you around and check you every day for seven
days," he said. "If you're using drugs, you could put it on somebody who's
not, then bring it back."

The memo of agreement between AFSCME and DJJ recognizes "the necessity and
importance of the employee drug-testing program" and still permits "random
substance-abuse testing" in the department. The union also conceded "the
benefits of the pre-employment, reasonable suspicion and random
substance-abuse testing" to protect the kids.

Bankhead said DJJ backed off the patch "for some technical issues," as well
as the current budget belt-tightening. But he said the special nature of
working with juveniles at a critical juncture in their lives makes drug
testing appropriate at DJJ.

"We certainly didn't mean an insult to employees," he said. "But if you ask
most folks, they want to work in a drug-free workplace."