Then give a GQ answer to the question you answered. How does this correlate to 2001? I have taken drug tests since my first big boy job in 1988. I would not disagree with you if you said that it has become more prevelant since then. To tie it into 2001 is ridiculous.
It seems that way to me I didn’t see a boom in low wage jobs asking for this until this decade. Anybody that can provide meaningful statistics on the number of jobs requiring drug testing over the last 30 years is welcome to give them. I’m open to it having some numbers on this.
Drug testing became mandatory for the military and federal employees during the Reagan administration, by executive order. This was prompted by the crash of a plane on the USS Nimitz, and the investigation which revealed some of the crew had been smoking marijuana. Court rulings helped extend this practice to the private sector, and was pushed as policy under the GHW Bush administration.
HarmoniousDiscord seems to be implying that the practice of universal drug testing is somehow a result of the Patriot Act. On the contrary, I’d argue that it’s been a fairly common practice for almost twenty years.
Speaking of GQ, let’s see a cite for this. Drug teetotaler != reliable.
I didn’t mean it was a result of a the Patriot Act. I meant that many of the American public got swept up in the events and the companies took advantage of the social climate of you can’t protest what we ask you to do.
I guess growing up during the 60’s and 70’s left me more willing to say why do you have the right to require I prove I don’t do something when you have no reason to think I do.
No cite, but go get a job where you have to work with a bunch of drug fiends. Trust me, you won’t need a cite anymore. On the flipside though, tweekers and coke fiends can be damnably productive at times. I used to work for a guy who was a high school dropout (actually he got expelled) turned self-made multi-millionaire. His success was derived mostly from a poorly developed superego and the energy that cocaine gave him. However, he was a holy terror to work for, and by the time he was in his late forties he was a hunched-over, shriveled up wreck of a man. Eventually, he lost everything and wound up selling purebred cats over the Internet. Truly tragic and hilarious at the same time.
The tests cost money. I don’t know of any employee who paid for it himself, so chances are they’re really serious about you if they’re sending you for the test.
I think the tests are silly. Most anyone can clean up while they’re shopping for a job. It means next to nothing about a person’s sobriety throughout the life of their career. I’ve been tested prior to employment a couple times, but unless you’re applying for a job that entails being directly responsible for other people’s lives (i.e., pilot, train engineer, etc.), you probably won’t be tested again unless you give them reason to suspect you’re fucked up at work. Like I said…these things cost money.
You might be right, but failing a drug test doesn’t make you a drug fiend. I just means you had one or two puffs off of a joint some time in the last 2-3 weeks. Or a line of coke 2-3 nights ago. Presumably, if you’re such a huge fiendish tweaker, you wouldn’t be an attractive candidate for the job anyway, unless you’re applying to be a roofer or something. And what’s wrong with good old fashioned ‘firing people for being shitty workers’ instead of vainly trying to predict it ahead of time based on a stereotype of drug users?
What if we could test for alcohol use anytime in the last 2 weeks. Would you pass that test? What if your boss was under the illusion that having a beer last weekend was tantamount to being an alcoholic, and presumed you’d be a terrible worker based on his ignorance? Would you feel happy if you got fired for that?
Here is a chart of state drug testing laws: drugtestingusa.com - contact with domain owner | Epik.com
This is a good review of the federal restrictions on drug testing: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:Ps-HTEDiK54J:www.cnapro.com/docs/drug_testing.doc+pre-offer+drug+test+eeoc&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
As far as I understand it, that is strictly verboten. The employer has to pay. There’s no question that they were serious about me. They made that more than abundantly clear just by what they said to me during the interview. Believe me, a lot of pharmacy technicians were spawned from the very shallowest end of the gene pool. It really piques their interest when a guy walks in for a retail job who’s a little older than the rest of the crowd and who can stand up straight and speak in complete sentences. Retail pharmacy can be a hellacious nightmare, and anybody who can make the pharmacist’s life easier rather than harder is a valuable commodity. That’s why I was a little stymied when they didn’t get back to me right away. I was envisioning some 23-year-old blonde with huge tits wearing MY blue lab coat. But for now, I’ll just take a wait-and-see approach.
Gfactor—thanks—you probably just saved me a couple of hours of Googling.
I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing though. 
You are very welcome. It’s what I do. 
Absolutely not a bad thing unless that’s how you envision your future self when you get the job.
When was the last time you looked for a job in Canada (and, I suppose, in what type of field?).
I’ve only worked for three companies and my husband for two, in both Ontario and Québec, and basic drug screening was a requirement for all of them. Admittedly in my case I was in the pharmaceutical industry and would be working with controlled substances/narcotics (cocaine, fentanyl, hydromorphone, etc) as part of my job, but the steel company and two aeronautical companies we’ve worked for have just been desk jobs. My friend works for a bank in an entry level call centre job, and she had a drug test too.
It’s probably more common than you think.
I’ll try to keep my hands off the progesterone.
Although they’re not allowed to require a medical exam for pre-employment, they can gather some basic information as to your health from the paperwork of your drug screening. For instance, one of the things you have to fill out is a list of medications that you are currently taking. This can indicate to a potential employer how much money it will cost to cover your health benefits.
The discrimination is illegal, but very seldom is there enough proof of it, that it’s difficult to take legal action.
Wal-Mart prescreens for drugs. They are about as entry-level as you can get.
I’ve worked in Canada in private and public companies for 25 years and have NEVER been subjected to a drug test: ever.
ETA: And neither has anyone I’ve heard of (unless you’re in the military). Drug tests at the public level are completely unheard of here: trust me.
Only in some positions. Most Federal Employees never had to take a test. My Bro never did, and he was an IRS agent for 20+ years. Now, the gun-toting Special Agents did have to take the test.
I’m not going to jump into the drug-test debate, but Washoe, if you don’t end up getting the job, there are definitely some lessons to take away from it.
We all know there are more applicants than there are jobs these days. It’s likely this company is having to make a tough decision between more than one qualified candidate. 10 days doesn’t seem to me like an unreasonable amount of time to make the decision. Calling them every few days to see how things are going is great, but repeatedly asking if you’re getting an offer and becoming “petulant” probably won’t rocket you to the top of the list.
IMO, it was premature and unprofessional of the person who told you you were getting an offer when clearly the decision was not yet final, and it will suck if that ends up costing you other opportunities. Still, why turn down other interviews in the meantime?? Regardless of any verbal assurances you’ve gotten, you don’t have this job until you’re actually standing behind the counter in that blue lab coat. The old adage about counting chickens comes to mind; plus, any other offers you may get will only help your leverage if your sights are really set on working for this company.
I truly wish you the best in a very tough job market, and I hope you forgive me for calling you out for sounding just a little bit entitled in some of your posts. Good luck, but remember – nobody owes you anything.