I tried to control my fury over the sheer stupidity of it all. Most obvious to me was the blatant invasion of privacy. Here I could be a great worker who happens to take a single toke before starting a new job and - boom - I won't get it because of failing the drug test. My neighbor could get blindingly drunk the night before starting a new job, wake up in a pool of vomit, and go to work because he passed the drug test. A drug test cannot distinguish whether a person took something illegal on their own time or on work's time. If on work's time, fine - terminate the person, fire their ass. But if I toke on my own time it's none of my work's (or Government's) business. If my work is obviously impared because of a drug - any drug legal or otherwise - then that's the issue that needs to be tackled. Drug testing merely imposes a penalty where none may be warranted. A college kid trying out for his first job may lose it due to second-hand marijuana smoke from a party he went to the night before, or maybe he did partake, so what? Previous partaking of drugs is not a measure of work performance. President Clinton was an admitted toker.

And that got me thinking to this...

If drug usage at work is so important especially in Safety sensitive areas or in matters of National Security, I propose that random drug testing be mandatory after hiring but not a prerequisite before. This will restore some privacy and focus the matter back in terms of work impairment. If a person's work isn't being impaired then no problem, right?

Further, since there are no Persons more critical to National Security than the President, Vice President, etc. and, as example to all of us, the random testing should be done quarterly and should include alcohol tests (to check for "Fitness for Duty". Think about it. The President of the United States can order nuclear strikes. If he's impaired due to drugs wouldn't you want to know about it?

The testing should be done by an known independent 3rd party with the results available to the American People. The President undergoes yearly check-ups at a military base but, c'mon, if the President has little drug problem, you think they'll announce it?

If the President won't do it then why should any of us? If the President doesn't want to pee in a cup then why should we? If the President doesn't want his privacy invaded then why should ours be fair game?

(*sigh*) I know the answer to these: "It's a matter of National Security to not reveal matters of the President's health..." so Georgie can go back to his kegger.