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Washu and test
- Thread starter dcham
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dcham said:
guess i better get myself off the smack then...
i actually kinda figured all schools would do some sort of drug screening, at least before any kind of patient contact begins...
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Oak said:
why? if someone's not on drugs, they have nothing to hide...and if they are on drugs, it doesn't really seem that they should have any privilege or right to hide that fact. i've never really understood what privacy is being invaded by simply verifying that someone isn't on drugs (i.e. breaking the law).
but, at the very least, it seems that any students working with patients should be allowed to be tested...i certainly wouldn't want to be a patient of someone using drugs...
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jbrice1639 said:
FYI, the "unreasonable search and seizure" provisions of the US Constitution protect your privacy right to your bodily fluids. The "nothing to hide" analysis you have indicated above is contrary to longstanding tenets of US law -- you are innocent until proven guilty, not vice versa, and the government has very limited rights under which it may intrude on innocents' rights.
But there is no "right" for you to work in certain fields/professions, and so employers (and in this case certain professional schools) can reasonably require drug testing if there is a legitimate reason for doing so.
I think more important than "working with patients", as you suggest, there is a legitimate reason to do drug tests on people who are involved in the handling and administration of medications. Virtually everyone who works for the pharamaceutical industry has to go through drug testing, so it seems like common sense that you test those who are also going to be on the distribution chain - actually administering the drugs.
(A better question would be how limited in scope the drug testing should be, and whether there should be any sort of limitation as to what kind of drugs or substances they can test for.)
