My 2¢

So as my senior year comes closer, so does the time when I must enter the real world, meaning the time to apply to jobs is approaching. Now that is a scary thought for me and all of my fellow classmates. But for more than half of the class of 2011 there’s another scary thought that approaches, DRUG TESTS. These days, most jobs require drug test; from working at a  clothing store to a hospital setting.

Unfortunately most people aren’t drug free in some way or another. Towards the middle of the spring semester I heard a numerous amount of seniors who refused certain choice drugs (mainly marijuana) because they were afraid of the possibility of having to take a drug test for jobs they were applying for.

It has been in my experience that the different parts of an application process will predict your overall job performance. Your resume tells of your past achievements and qualifications and your interview show cases your character and people skills. The drug test does nothing to show how you will perform in the work place. It only stigmatizes applicants for participating in activities on their own time. In my college experience I have known many people who do/take drugs and are extremely succesful academically. I’ve actually met a few “pot heads” that were also tutors and were succeeding outside of the classroom (ie internships). So how is it that these people might not get a job because of a drug they do and may lose it to someone who is less qualified but clean in terms of  drugs. It’s fucking BULL SHIT.

Obviously this blog post may make me seem bias and I am probably coming across as a drug addict of some sort, but that is not the case. I just feel that it is hypocritical that you are tested for some things that are assumed to effect your work performance and not others. Alcohol, for example, is a drug that can effect your performance but because it is legal you aren’t tested for it on a drug test. As a matter of fact an alcoholic can get a job over someone who takes illegal drugs irregularly. This also leads to the idea of other types of addictions that can’t be tested. Cigarette addiction is the most likely cause of the 15 minute break that we recieve at work because cigarette smokers need that fix every few hours to be considered productive. Why do we give breaks to people to go smoke in the middle of the work day. Wouldn’t it be more useful if we just didn’t hire cigarette smokers and just hired people that  can work a full day without having to take a break to smoke.These people would also smell better and have less random irritation (have you ever been stuck in a place with someone who was itching for a cigarette? its not pretty)

So drugs can effect your performance if they are taken but what if you don’t take them before you go to work, shouldn’t that be considered rather than the whether or not a person gets the job. There are other things in life that can alter one’s work performance. For example, what about people who  can’t handle stress very well; I’m sure any time something wrong occurs in their life they won’t be able to perform to their best ability. But it would be wrong to test people to see if they were psychologically stable. What about people who have physical diseases. These diseases and the doctors appointments that comes with them (let alone the cost to insure these people) could be a hindrance to their employees. But that of course is illegal to do.

One argument I’ve heard is the fact that drugs that are tested are illegal to take, which is true; but what if you hire someone who’s addicted to taking pain killers - which can be completely legal. What if you stopped hiring everyone who participates in illegal activities? That would include all those who drink and drive, text and drive, piss in a public area (something that every guy has done at one point or another), drink  or  smoke while under aged  etc. All of these are common laws that are broken but they don’t judge a person’s character but are considered illegal.

Drug tests are completely irrelevant in determining how good a potential employee could be at a job. All they do is eliminate half of the application pool and  make it easier for people to go through applications.