• grue@lemmy.world
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    17 days ago

    You realize they have the same policy for everybody from checkout clerks to corporate software developers, right? Even in positions that never get anywhere near any sort of dangerous equipment.

    Hell, even pure software companies, that don’t have any employees where the issues you cite would legitimately apply, sometimes have the same bullshit allegedly-insurance-mandated drug testing.

    Point is, a lot of this shit is driven by busybodies inventing excuses for their puritan moral crusade, not genuine risk.

    (Full disclosure: (a) I have firsthand experience working as a software engineer at places that do drug testing, including Home Depot specifically, and (b) I don’t actually use drugs, so this pisses me off purely as a matter of principle.)

    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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      17 days ago

      And I’m sure the discount varies based on how much of a risk there is with each work environment. Low risk workplaces like software companies are going to have much less of a difference in risk between drug-using and non.

      The thing is, it’s almost never going to be zero. And if employers and insurance companies can save a few bucks by getting everyone to pee in a cup, they will!

      Personally, I don’t have an issue with cannabis use. It’s legal here in Canada and I’ve even grown it myself. But I don’t think people should be getting high at work, just as I don’t think people should drink at work (despite how amusing it is on Mad Men).

      Having said that, I’ve never had a drug test in my life. Maybe it’s not a thing for most jobs in Canada.

      • Hellinabucket@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        Right but drug testing means they can’t smoke out side of work. Why are you okay with your emplo5telling you what to do in your free time?

        • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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          17 days ago

          I thought drug testing was only done once, during the hiring process. If they’re drug testing on a regular basis that’s something entirely different. I would not support that unless the job actually required operating heavy equipment (including cars) or dangerous tools etc.

          My former roommate is a drywall taper contractor and he’s told me many stories of people showing up to a job site high on meth and making a huge mess, causing dangerous accidents with tools, dropping heavy objects off unfinished upper floors etc. They definitely should be drug testing these workers regularly but they aren’t. He himself smokes cannabis but never when he’s at work. I would be fine if they tested for harder drugs but not cannabis. They should be conducting sobriety tests at work too though, as he’s also seen people show up to work drunk (though the foreman often notices this and sends them home if he’s any good).