Why Do Some Consider Drug Tests Humiliating?

[Dayton3]

I was listening to FoxNews and they were arguing about a proposal to require drug testing of everyone that receives unemployment benefits.

Someone said "first they lose their jobs and now you humiliate them further by requiring a drug test"

Why do some consider a drug test humiliating?

I've taken dozens of drug tests over the years and I don't see what the big deal is.

I make a joke out of it. Like filling the urine cups all the way to the brim and "putting a head" on it.

I've never seen the "humiliation" part.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Different people have different levels of humiliation. For example, some would find the admission that one enjoys "filling the urine cups all the way to the brim and "putting a head" on it" to be humiliating.

 

[Plecostomus]

Well, a surprising number of people do one of two things... either they are casual users who spend all their unemployment on recreational drugs then beg for further financial help, or they become sellers and are making a nice chunk of change tax free while also collecting benefits.


The ones who consider drug-testing humiliating are more often than not the ones with something to hide. We drug test new hires and randomly here at Job Is Job, People will clean themselves up for the interview, interview, be accepted and throw a tantrum about being required to give a hair and urine sample. 9/10 of them fail one or both. The logic they often employ is "what I do on my own time is none of your concern."

I agree. What we are trying to do is prevent people who can't handle themselves properly out of the workforce. The ones that come to work high, can't see straight or follow instructions because they are zoned out on something... the casual user who smokes dope on company property... if you get one in the door in these situations next thing you know SOMEONE is selling on your property and shortly thereafter the cops are raiding YOUR company on YOUR ass about YOU allowing this to go on... and when your customers include aerospace, military, and medical markets this shit gets noticed and contracts stop coming in.

Now, the easy solution would be to legalize pot, sell it over the counter line tobacco and tax it while ramping up the punishments for dealing and possessing harder substances.

Until they do that, considering the nature of the business I'm in I have to take a zero-tolerance policy because that's what keeps the money coming in and 30 people employed.

 

[JoeZhang]

A friend of mine does this for the probation service - they just get someone else to piss in a bottle and then swop it when in the toilets. They know it, the probation service guys know it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wouldn't consider it humiliating. It's not like people are watching you pee in a cup. As long as they don't test for coffee, I'll be fine.

 

[wamdue]

hang on im on unemployed benefit at the moment (im thinking alot of people are at the moment) but that doesnt mean they can label me as someone who is likely to be doing drugs, ive never done drugs in my life.

I would be deeply offended if I was asked to provide a sample.

whatever next, unemployed people must have an ankle bracelet and a 10pm curfew, becasue some people believe that unemployed people are more likely to steal to makes ends meet, even (lets say) ME, has no history of theft.

 

[JoeZhang]

hang on im on unemployed benefit at the moment (im thinking alot of people are at the moment) but that doesnt mean they can label me as someone who is likely to be doing drugs, ive never done drugs in my life.

I would be deeply offended if I was asked to provide a sample.

whatever next, unemployed people must have an ankle bracelet and a 10pm curfew, becasue some people believe that unemployed people are more likely to steal to makes ends meet, even (lets say) ME, has no history of theft.

And let's say you were a drug addict and failed your drugs test and they took your benefits. What's then? Well I guess you steal to get by.

The war on drugs is a complete failure, unless there are H&S issues people can get smacked off their heads all day long on their benefit checks for all I care. It's got to be far cheaper than dealing with the criminality generated by our current silly attitude.

 

[Moocey]

Being told to piss on command is somewhat humiliating.

 

[SeerSGB]

I wouldn't consider it humiliating. It's not like people are watching you pee in a cup. As long as they don't test for coffee, I'll be fine.

Actually, I have had drug tests-- several actually, some random per job requirement, some for prehire--- where the tester was required to stand in the room and watch you piss in the cup. Really hard to do when you already have medical issues, and when the guy is trying make small talk with you or, in one case, the doc is standing there tapping his foot and informing you that it's against the law to swap urine samples and if I tested positive he would be calling the county sheriff.

Being told to piss on command is somewhat humiliating.

I consider it a presumption of guilt to a certain degree. "Oh, you're on welfare/unemployment...you must be a druggie".

 

[wamdue]

hang on im on unemployed benefit at the moment (im thinking alot of people are at the moment) but that doesnt mean they can label me as someone who is likely to be doing drugs, ive never done drugs in my life.

I would be deeply offended if I was asked to provide a sample.

whatever next, unemployed people must have an ankle bracelet and a 10pm curfew, becasue some people believe that unemployed people are more likely to steal to makes ends meet, even (lets say) ME, has no history of theft.

And let's say you were a drug addict and failed your drugs test and they took your benefits. What's then? Well I guess you steal to get by.

The war on drugs is a complete failure, unless there are H&S issues people can get smacked off their heads all day long on their benefit checks for all I care. It's got to be far cheaper than dealing with the criminality generated by our current silly attitude.

quite why drug addicts are not made to go into some sort of rehab is beyond me, sure tie there benefits to them being clean, but if you are going to do that, offer them help, its going to be alot easier for them to find work if they are clean.

 

[SeerSGB]

hang on im on unemployed benefit at the moment (im thinking alot of people are at the moment) but that doesnt mean they can label me as someone who is likely to be doing drugs, ive never done drugs in my life.

I would be deeply offended if I was asked to provide a sample.

whatever next, unemployed people must have an ankle bracelet and a 10pm curfew, becasue some people believe that unemployed people are more likely to steal to makes ends meet, even (lets say) ME, has no history of theft.

And let's say you were a drug addict and failed your drugs test and they took your benefits. What's then? Well I guess you steal to get by.

The war on drugs is a complete failure, unless there are H&S issues people can get smacked off their heads all day long on their benefit checks for all I care. It's got to be far cheaper than dealing with the criminality generated by our current silly attitude.

quite why drug addicts are not made to go into some sort of rehab is beyond me, sure tie there benefits to them being clean, but if you are going to do that, offer them help, its going to be alot easier for them to find work if they are clean.

Agreed. People just don't get it: cut off the money and they'll get the money some other way, i.e. crime; theft, prostitution, dealing, etc. Where as you can put conditions on the money and offer them help and a environment in which they are encouraged to improve their lives.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

In the software industry, it seems everyone smokes pot, so a lot of places don't drug test. My last job didn't. My new one doesn't.

I don't smoke it at all, though I am exposed to people who do (sometimes while they are doing it), so it vaguely concerns me that I might one day be asked to pass a test.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I didn't know some workplaces make you do this in front of people. Now *that* would be humiliating.

As for the war on drugs: That's another thread entirely. I don't think drug testing should have anything to do with that. Even if all drugs were legalized right now, it would still be the right of any establishment to implement whatever testing procedures they think proper for their employees. Just because something is legal doesn't mean an employer has to allow it.

I think it would be a bad idea to require testing of people on unemployment, though.

 

[Pingfah]

I've paid exorbitant amounts of taxes to support a welfare state for the last 20 years.

If I become unemployed I fucking deserve that money, and i'll spend it on drugs if I damn well want to

 

[John Picard]

hang on im on unemployed benefit at the moment (im thinking alot of people are at the moment) but that doesnt mean they can label me as someone who is likely to be doing drugs, ive never done drugs in my life.

I would be deeply offended if I was asked to provide a sample.

whatever next, unemployed people must have an ankle bracelet and a 10pm curfew, becasue some people believe that unemployed people are more likely to steal to makes ends meet, even (lets say) ME, has no history of theft.

You getting far too reactionary to this proposal. There are very few jobs out there that DON'T require a drug screening before the applicant is hired, and this is no different. Why should people receiving public funds not be subjected to any type of screening? The money is meant to help that person get by until he/she can regain employment. It is not meant to be spent on hookers and blow. This is much the same way people get irked when they see a food stamp recipient buying junk food, booze, and smokes at the store and they want the system reformed so that those very items are off limits to the food stamp recipients.

 

[wamdue]

I live in England, a land where you dont need to take a drug test before you start a job.

I know I know it sounds like a drug fuelled fantasy land to you, but you can get a job without a drug test. The very fact you need a drug test to get a job worries me.

 

[DonIago]

This is much the same way people get irked when they see a food stamp recipient buying junk food, booze, and smokes at the store and they want the system reformed so that those very items are off limits to the food stamp recipients.

Funny, when I was on welfare briefly I was receiving so many food stamps I ended up blowing them on pints of Ben & Jerry's...but didn't receive enough cash to even cover my rent & utilities.

 

[John Picard]

I live in England, a land where you dont need to take a drug test before you start a job.

I know I know it sounds like a drug fueled fantasy land to you, but you can get a job without a drug test. The very fact you need a drug test to get a job worries me.

It sounds no more like a drug fueled fantasy land than areas of the US with "wet" counties are common places for binge drinking. I don't see why a drug test for a job should scare you. When it comes to critical occupations, such as a truck driver, crane operator, or the like, you sure as hell don't want someone who is an abuser to be on the clock. The US Navy had a rampant problem with drug abuse until the early 1980's when the CNO had had enough and mandated drug testing. He cleaned house and improved the Navy's overall readiness as well as its image.

 

[JonathonWally]

hang on im on unemployed benefit at the moment (im thinking alot of people are at the moment) but that doesnt mean they can label me as someone who is likely to be doing drugs, ive never done drugs in my life.

I would be deeply offended if I was asked to provide a sample.

whatever next, unemployed people must have an ankle bracelet and a 10pm curfew, becasue some people believe that unemployed people are more likely to steal to makes ends meet, even (lets say) ME, has no history of theft.

You getting far too reactionary to this proposal. There are very few jobs out there that DON'T require a drug screening before the applicant is hired, and this is no different. Why should people receiving public funds not be subjected to any type of screening? The money is meant to help that person get by until he/she can regain employment. It is not meant to be spent on hookers and blow. This is much the same way people get irked when they see a food stamp recipient buying junk food, booze, and smokes at the store and they want the system reformed so that those very items are off limits to the food stamp recipients.

So, what you're really saying here is that you support huge governments and want and demand government enforced invasion of privacy?

In other words, you want a "Nanny State"?

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

People are worried about the unemployed getting money while using drugs, but aren't concerned with the extra cost of testing the unemployed for drug use?

We want to spend money to prevent people from receiving money!