as has already been said, I would have concerns over whether certain prescription drugs would cause you to fail a drugs test
Having said that i wouldn’t turn down a job on the basis of random drug or alcahol testing. Random breath tests have been in the bus industry for all the time i’ve been driving buses. I was never required to provide a sample though.
I think you would find that the “random” element is just a cover and that the management would test people they suspect or had recieved information on.
Semtex:
as has already been said, I would have concerns over whether certain prescription drugs would cause you to fail a drugs test
That is one of the points of the tests i.e. prescription drugs can have an effect that is the same as ‘illegal’ drugs or even alcohol!!
From some of the replies here, it seems some people are concerned that OTC medicines would show-up on a test; they should do because they have effects on the individual that can cause a danger on the road.
Perhaps what we should be getting concerned about is not that a drug test would show ‘legal’ drugs, but the fact that the majority of those legal drugs/medicines are not labelled sufficiently to let drivers know the dangers!!
Like I said earlier, what is worse, a driver under the influence of alcohol, cannabis or ‘night nurse’■■
I voted no. What I drink or otherwise on a Friday/Saturday has nothing to do with anyone but me. I make sure that I limit what I have on my two days off and don’t touch a drop on Sunday so that I’m 100% OK to do my job Monday morning.
Most drugs, including alcohol, will show minute traces days afterwards but that doesn’t mean you are still under the influence. The problem is some people do drive or go to work under the influence of what ever they take, be it crack or cough medicine. Can we take the chance that they won’t kill someone? No definitely not. So we get random drug testing.
A better way to stop it would be to take their license away for good and if they got caught again take them out the back and shoot them. After shooting a few it would soon stop.
I voted Yes simply because i have nothing to hide and have been tested before in the Forces where you have no choice.
As for over the counter medicines i think a traffic light system would be pretty cheap to put on the label and is simply to understand, though i doubt that it would happen.
A big yes to drug testing.
Looking at a few drivers at our place in the mornings if i didn’t know better i would think they were on drugs
But there are a few non "truck " drivers who take the spliffs, as far as i am concerned they smoke that at work then they compromise the safety of myself and others.
I had a few tests done myself while in the forces, Christ they even came to the Falklands to test us
The tests are normally done through a urine sample and sent away to the labs, but before you have the test you are asked if you are on medication or taken any medication within the last 24 hours, and then you fill in the declaration form.
If you are not on unprescribed drugs then you have nothing to fear from a drug test. I should think that everybody would have a trace of Cannabis in them now, it is not exactly a secret that all the youngsters smoke the stuff like it is going out of fashion, you see a youngster in a pub, he/she has two beers all night, he/she acts like he/she has had ten beers, that to me indicates he/she is on the weed.
I sometimes smoke cannabis at the weekend …
I always drink beer at the weekend …
Should we breath test you on a saturday to see if you are fit to drive on a monday ■■?
Or should we breath test you early monday after a sunday night …
i rest my case (on cannabis way )
Lets not be too single minded here … In one foul swoop after a weekend even though you are no longer under the influence you would find traces of caffeine sugar protein nicotine alcohol and EEKKS GADS maybe some drugs that arent legal , as long as its not done on the job then so what , lets not get so singleminded
ive been tested at freightliner.
at freightliner you are tested at the medical you have to attend before you get the job. it didnt bother me its just a ■■■■ sample.
I voted no. It’s got nothing to do with anyone else. End of. If I have an accident when out driving then I would let them do a drugs and drink test to clear my name as it would be for my own benefit, but as for random tests or before being offered employment, no way. Like Andyroo said, they take my word for it or find someone else.
Rob K:
I would let them do a drugs and drink test to clear my name as it would be for my own benefit,
But it would be of no comfort to the family of a victim of an impared driver if the test was done afterwards.
The fact is Rob, not everyone is as responsible most of us and without some form of deterent (i.e. random tests) those 1% will be taking more and more risks. How would you feel if one of the 1% crashed into your family??
I personnaly can’t help but feel that anyone with nowt to hide has nowt to worry about.
I’ve never felt the need for drugs (or booze) so don’t have a problem with random testing, providing any drug found in the system is correctly identified.
However a lot of ‘over the counter’ painkillers would probably show up on such a test, so how will the diferential between legal and illegal drugs be assertained?
I sometimes take Solpadeine for neck/back pain, would this be an offence?
Ollie:
I’ve never felt the need for drugs (or booze) so don’t have a problem with random testing, providing any drug found in the system is correctly identified.
The lab test of the sample would identify the drug.
Ollie:
However a lot of ‘over the counter’ painkillers would probably show up on such a test, so how will the diferential between legal and illegal drugs be assertained?
Same as above.
Ollie:
I sometimes take Solpadeine for neck/back pain, would this be an offence?
Does it impair your driving?? There’s your answer.
Rob K:
I would let them do a drugs and drink test to clear my name as it would be for my own benefit,
**But it would be of no comfort to the family of a victim of an impared driver if the test was done afterwards.[/u]
[u]The fact is Rob, not everyone is as responsible most of us and without some form of deterent (i.e. random tests) those 1% will be taking more and more risks. **How would you feel if one of the 1% crashed into your family??[/u][/u] I personnaly can’t help but feel that anyone with nowt to hide has nowt to worry about. [/quote] Ah give it a rest will you . I’m fed up of hearing this sob story on every flaming forum. It’s a fact of life, people do things they shouldn’t and accidents (remember them??) happen. Never heard of live and let live? You should try it some time. Fed up of these angelic law-abiding do-gooders that never do anything wrong and believe that someone is allus to blame. Get in the real world. I’ve made some serious -ups in my life, one of them being having drunk a full bottle of Southern Comfort neat and then got behind the wheel. Not proud. Not big. Not clever. Not funny. We live and learn.
I’ve made some serious -ups in my life, one of them being having drunk a full bottle of Southern Comfort neat and then got behind the wheel. Not proud. Not big. Not clever. Not funny
Crikey bet you had a sore head when you woke up
And as for drinking a full bottle Rob well i only have to sniff southern comfort and i’m fast asleep, now Guinness is a different matter i can drink atleast 1/2 a pint Some of us are born to be teetotal and boring i’m afraid
people get the wrong idea about drink and drug test for work… its not about drinking really cos if you go for a job like i did at f/liner so what if you like a drink its up to you its a free country but drugs is a different matter and dont think im anti drugs cos im not but when they test you for drugs they arnt looking for back pain drugs or anti deppression tablets they are looking for banned drugs and to be honest if i was an employer i wouldnt want someone who shows positive for drugs working for me in fact no one would.
My understanding of this thread is the tests are not to see who is breaking the law but to see who is not fit to drive due to drugs even if they are legal medicines.
Rob K:
Ah give it a rest will you . I’m fed up of hearing this sob story on every flaming forum. It’s a fact of life, people do things they shouldn’t and accidents (remember them??) happen. Never heard of live and let live?
Live & let live only applies when someone is not breaking the law.
If someone’s ■■■■■■■■■/religion/musical taste/whatever doesn’t harm anyone else, then live and let live, regardless of your opinions.
However, if someones blood alcohol level/drug intake etc. could well kill someone, then to tolerate that, would be live and let DIE.
What I object to with testing is the implication that people can’t be trusted not to drive whilst impaired.
I don’t do anything other than drink alcohol, but I never drink it if I’m gonna be driving (work or otherwise) before I’ll be safe to again. The fact that some of the drugs that people take leave traces for a long time means that even if they are taking drugs regularly it’s quite possible that they have never driven whilst impaired by them.
(Good morning Vietnam)
. I’m fed up of hearing this sob story on every flaming forum. It’s a fact of life, people do things they shouldn’t and accidents (remember them??) happen. Never heard of live and let live? You should try it some time. Fed up of these angelic law-abiding do-gooders that never do anything wrong and believe that someone is allus to blame. Get in the real world.
-ups in my life, one of them being having drunk a full bottle of Southern Comfort neat and then got behind the wheel. Not proud. Not big. Not clever. Not funny.
