Congress To Outlaw "Anti-Drug Testing" Industry

I got this in my NORML news letter today...

Washington, DC: Members of Congress this week vowed to introduce
legislation to prohibit the use and sale of commercial products intended
to influence drug test results, such as diuretic teas and chemical
adulterants.
"These products ... endanger the public," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R),
Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations, who called this week's hearing. "I can't
think of any reason why we'd allow these products in interstate commerce."
Presently, 14 states have enacted laws prohibiting the sale of such
products. Members of the Committee said they intend to introduce similar
federal legislation before the end of the year.
Of the estimated 55 million drug tests performed annually,
approximately 90 percent of those are urine tests, which may be influenced
by dilution or adding an adulterant to the sample. Over the past decade,
numerous commercial businesses have begun selling various products
promising to influence drug test results, including herbal teas and
substitute urine.
While often referred to as an impairment test, urinalysis cannot
detect the presence of parent drugs, and only indicates that a particular
substance may have been previously consumed at some unspecified point in
time. In the case of cannabis, non-psychoactive marijuana metabolites
(compounds produced from chemical changes of a drug in the body) may be
detectable in urine for days or even weeks after past use. As a result,
the US Department of Justice affirms that a positive urine test, even when
confirmed, "does not indicate ... recency, frequency, or amount of [drug]
use; or impairment."
Responding to the proposed Congressional action, NORML Executive
Director Allen St. Pierre said, "It's ironic that Congress is trying to
quash legitimates businesses that have successfully emerged in the free
market - particularly when the market for this industry is a direct result
of politicians' zeal to intrusively search the bodily fluids of tens of
millions of law abiding Americans without cause."

 

...sounds like the US Government. Of course you don't need me to tell you it's bullshit...

 

man i fucking hate this shit. 0% tolerance means 0% freedom.

 

this is outrageous!

 

It's bullshit...but what the fuck are you going to do? As time goes on laws are created not removed, its never going to stop. One of these days im just going to say fuck it and show this god damn government that i would rather be dead then live in this shitty country. Take a bullet for the true freedom.

 

what really pisses me off is that they're slowly taking one right away from us at a time, and we can't do much about it. :$

 

yeah they are pretty slick about trying to slide things by the public. Most of it is to benefit sombebodies wallet. But yeah, get a load of this

 

That must be a joke LOL

 

Exactly.

 

you know... this is kind of a touchy area..... but in a way.... its a good thing.... would you really want someone.... say a truck driver.... on a 5 or 6 day meth binge drivin down the high way.... and then all of a sudden he passes out behind the wheel? hell no.... there are plenty of situations in which using fake urine or deluted urine could cause serious hazards to other people.... yea i think its wrong becuase im sure more weed tokers buy them than anyone else... but there are those people that are strung out on somethin else that are hazards that are tryin to avoid losing a job.... so i dont really know what to think of this.....

 

i agree most the people i know who fuck up drug tests are coke or heroin addics most the stoners i know dont even give a fuck what comes up on there drug test usely they just get a slap on the wrist

 

.

 

Well, if it goes into effect, and there are more drug tests, then the government will see the rising number of people smoking. And they will either get even more strict with the law or will have to lessen it. Hopefully it will the second, but who knows with damn government that is "for the people."

 

Well it's bullshit, for the reasons mentioned above, but also for the reason that drug testing at most jobs is a breach of your privacy and rights in my eyes.

 

Tell me how drug testing is going to keep a meth-head from going on a binge? And don't you think people would notice if he was THAT impared?
I knew a guy on probation years ago and since he had multiple convictions on alcohol-related charges (DUI, drunk and disorderly), he was prohibited from consuming alcohol and he had to be tested monthly.
He would stop drinking 3 days before his scheduled tests, and buy a bottle on the way home, and stay drunk for the next 27 days.
What I think they should do is STOP testing people for marijuana. I saw a want ad a few months ago in the local paper for a job as a part-time janitor.
You had to pass a mandatory drug test.
To push a broom.
If you liked to take a few hits off a joint at a party every once and awhile, you weren't "fit" to push a broom and empty trash cans.

 

a few points:

of all drugs, marijuana is the most tested for, mainly because it stays in your system for so long. Most other drugs clear in a few days, THC metabolites can stick around for a month.

Second, I agree that truckers and others shouldn't be impaired on the job. That's obvious, but testing can only help so far, like the above post shows. I also knew a guy who was friends with a trucker, they went on a trip together and were stoned the whole time (the trucker smokes constantly, his employer doesn't care). I don't agree with this irresponsibility, of course, but testing obviously doesn't really work in these cases.

The thing is, I think that legally, it's not an invasion of privacy to drug test, because it's a private employer. But there could be rules. It should only be done if there's strong suspicion of use ON THE JOB. An employer generally shouldn't care what people do on their own time, that's a key issue which marijuana testing ignores (given how long it stays with you)

 

Yeah, that really sucks, I feel sorry for anyone who has to get tested. My friend just had a piss test today and he said the doctor watched him, probably to make sure it was his and he wasnt gonna drop anything in it. Hopefully will never be my problem as long as I'm as careful as I have been.

 

Ok...here is the problem......

Marijuana stays in your system up to 30 days.....Most "harder" drugs; coke, meth, heroine, are out within 3 days to a week.

So if you are a crackhead, and stop for a few days, then you pass a drug test.

Hmmmm.......the message I am gettin here is "If you're gonna do drugs, do the hard stuff!" because, it's easier to get a job, get off probation, or whatever.

Thats sad...

What they should actually REALLY do, is develop more accurate drug tests....I mean, fuck, if I am gonna get nailed for being a stoner, then I want the crackhead to go down with me!!!

OR.......MAYBE....if enough pot-smokers actually just stood up and admitted they use marijuana, to anyone or everyone, instead of being closet smoking cowards, then I bet things would change.

a few decades ago, it was COMPLETELY socially unacceptable to be gay, now it's A-OK.....why??? Because homosexuals got tired of being riddiculed and held down. They rose up, came "out of the closet", stood together for what they believed, and the end result was mainstream society, for the most part, respecting their lifestyle.

How come marijuana smokers don't do that?? Like I said, "closet smokin cowards"
I know more than one pot-head that hides their love for the herb.

I bet we could get mainstream society to respect us too. If we tried hard enough.
Maybe even those piss sniffing pigs would have to start treating THC like nicotine when it shows up on a test!!!

sorry for the rant:&

 

Well said Soda.

That one thing Drug Policy Alliance: You've Been Drafted: Uncle Sam Wants You for the War on Drugs

Pisses me off so bad, we will eventually become nazi Germany unless we do something to stop it, we need to take back our government instead of voting in the same old people in office over and over. To quote my dad: "If you always do what youve already done you're only gonna get what you've already got."

 

I sent an email on that link, Nature Freak. Does anyone else wonder if doing so just puts you on some FBI list, so they can round us up if they need to? Not that I really care, I say fuck em, if they think jailing my body is going to contain me, let them revel in their small delusions. But still, it'd be an annoyance, obviously. But I doubt it will really come to that anyways.