What's the point of urine testing to get a job?

Perhaps it’s to make sure that you can pass… urine, at least.

My daughter was working in Meth labs, and selling. She was using as well.
I got her an interview with my company, and I told her she would have to take a drug test. She knew when it would happen. When the time for that interview came, she got high first. She aced the interview, and the skills test, but failed the drug test.
The test told the company that she had a drug problem she could not control. She couldn’t quit, even when she knew she had to in order to get the job.

Why don’t you ask them?

I believe drug testing provides an employer legal ammunition to fire an employee if he or she is found to be on drugs in the future.

Drug addicts are likely to fail the test. If you started using a day later, eventually it would likely show in your work that you were abusing drugs.

To make sure they are not hiring a chronic drug user.

The point is that it is perfectly fine to be a raging, “functional” alcoholic, but god fucking forbid you indulge in a little herbal essence. Pfft!

Drug addicts (but not alcoholics unfortunately) will fail a urine test. @filmfann is spot on. No one wants to hire a drug addict.

Why? Drug addicts are much more likely to steal, have decreased productivity, have poor attendance, etc . and drug addicts by nature can’t stop using so they would likely fail a test.

Now let’s look at the weed issue. That’s why many people hate drug tests – many smoke weed on occasion and are by no means addicts.

If that’s true, they’ll be able to pass the test. Limit your smoking so that if you got fired, you could be clean for a test within a couple weeks. If you have knowledge well in advance, then don’t smoke for a month or more prior.

If you can’t abstain from weed for more than a month for a drug test for a job, then you have a problem.

And you know, I honestly believe if there were a test to show who is an alcoholic, employers would utilize it.

@seekingwolf Totally agree…but casual marijuana use should not apply.
Meth addicts vs. weekend happy brownie hour in the garden is an apples and oranges argument.

@filmfann Wow, really? That’s gotta be tough.

@Coloma

I agree. However, I don’t see it being removed until it’s truly made legal, if it ever is. But until then, refraining from casually smoking is not a big deal because you just need to pass that one test. And anyone who can’t stop or won’t stop has a problem. Same goes for drinking and even cigarettes.

It’s an intelligence test – and a very low bar at that. If you can’t pass that test there are dozens of other candidates who can.
There is no sense hiring someone with a known problem when for the same price you can get someone who values the job more than the high.
Who would you prefer working in your facility?

^ Exactly. If you are so drug addled or stupid that you can’t put down the joint/crack pipe/needle/pill bottle for a couple weeks at least for a drug test, then you probably will be a bad employee.

I just wish we had one to weedle out alcoholics. Maybe we’d have fewer of them if it were more stigmatized and they were unable to get jobs.

There are so many people with good qualifications looking for work, employers can be choosy. They would be foolish to pick one with issues that are so easy to check.

I’m guessing many drug users will not even show up for the interview/test if they have been using. That saves the company money by eliminating them before investing any resources.

Whenever I go into the local Walmart or other store like that they have giant signs in their hiring station, saying IF YOU USE ILLEGAL DRUGS DONT WASTE OUR TIME APPLYING BECAUSE WE TEST.

I guess the only test that I think kind of sucks is the hair one. In someone with long hair, you can see years worth of drug usage. Including legal prescriptions that they used ages ago but no longer and may not have the old pill bottles. And of course, you couldn’t smoke MJ. Ever. Ever.

@XOIIO Watching someone you raised fall into a life like that was very, very hard. We tried everything to turn her around, to no avail. In the end, she did it herself. She has been clean for about 9 years, and is getting married in 2 months.

@filmfann

I’m thrilled to hear that she is has been sober for that long. that is so impressive because meth is a horrible habit and it’s so hard to kick. I’m sorry you had to go through that but I’m glad things are going well!

@seekingwolf Nobody would/could or should disagree with not wishing to have a drug addicted employee or a person under the influence of drugs providing services to the public, especially in positions that involve high responsibility for others health and safety. However….many people, including myself, feel mandatory drug testing is an invasion of privacy.
A one time test and then, only again if usage is suspected is one thing, random testing is quite another. Especially given the drinking problems many have I find the focus on marijuana use to be extremely biased.

Firstly, I will agree with the many other posters who indicated that UA’s do screen out a handful of drug users and they never end up employed.

But in your scenario, you say “the company would never know”. But if you became an addict, it is actually likely they would know. Lots of changes would take place that would be indicative of your new habit. Either the behavior would get you suspended or fired, or it would raise enough suspicions to prompt a surprise UA and you’d be found out.

@Coloma

There is currently no way to test to see if alcohol has been consumed in excess over time in someone. It’s not so much that MJ is “focused” on, it’s more that it’s really unfortunate that MJ is fat soluble so that you will test positive for it for WEEKS. Those metabolites just come out over a long time… That property really sucks.

The only way you could make a drug test not disadvantage the casual MJ smoker is if you COMPLETELY removed MJ from the actual test or just completely ignored the MJ result.

Most random testing occurs in certain jobs that have a lot of drug access. Walmart doesn’t have the time to random test all their can stackers – no one cares. In fact, most companies don’t randomly test. Too much cost. Pharmacies, however, frequently test randomly. Are you against pharmacists and pharm techs getting random tests done in those jobs? Are random tests ever okay?

I am actually okay with long distance truck drivers getting randomly tested too. In fact, I hope they are if they aren’t already.

@seekingwolf Not at all, I fully agree that seriously addicted people should not be in the work force, nor using anything during working hours. The 3 Martini lunch comes to mind as well.
I just think the bias against casual Marijuana use is unrealistic and invasive.
It would be obvious if someone was coming to work stoned, but not so much with many other drugs.

Tons of people are addicted to prescription meds. painkillers, drink like fish every night etc. that fly under the radar. No easy answers.

All of them are a waste of resources. Unless they come to work messed up at any time from drugs or alcohol it’s dumb.