Bill proposes to allow hair drug testing

My only complaint is what a waste of Rogain

 

Per the above: Sponsor Rep. Rick Crawford and co-sponsors Rep. Tom Cotton, Rep. Tim Griffin and Rep. Steve Womack are all Republicans who represent Arkansas. Three members of The Trucking Alliance are based in Arkansas – J.B. Hunt, Fikes Truck Line and Maverick Transportation. The fourth co-sponsor, Rep. Reid Ribble, is a Republican from Wisconsin, home state to The Trucking Alliance member Schneider National.


I find it very interesting that the sponsors are all Republicans and they fall in line with the larger trucking companies desires to do only hair analysis instead of hair analysis and urine testing.....the urine testing is very accurate and reliable while the hair testing has false positives for African Americans at a higher rate than non-African Americans. Looks like the good ole white men in Arkansas don't have a problem with drug testing that will have an adverse impact on black drivers!!!!

 

I personally do not have any problems taking a drug test of any form. I will however state that I believe that the most powerful people you trust your freedom, your family, marriage, your estate to are attorneys and judges that should be the first ones to submit to drug testing!
I don't care about their party affiliation or if they are little green men from Mars!

 

The problem is not the drug testing but where do you draw the line to micro managing peoples lives. Drug testing has only been around for about 30 years. Was the world all screwed up prior to that? I think the world we knew was much easier to live in. It gets more complicated everyday. Drug use was all over Vietnam. You didn't hear any negatives back then. I'm highly against drug and alcohol use in the industry but I'm more against violating the human body. Bust them for what they do and not what they have done. Of course you hear me ragging the drug threads that is because I know them posts are trying to figure away around the current system.

The way the system is now a person is crucified for life. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. Everyone deserves a second chance. What happens to that failed drug test person? Instead of rehabilitating that person he gets thrown to the dogs and becomes a product of the state. Help rehabilitate him and return him as a productive member of society. It's cheaper in the long run.


I know what others are thinking. I posted right below the line of political. Let's keep it below that line.

 

ok wei it seems we will be more regulated than pilots,when do we get their pay?

 

It's the slippery slope. Our civil rights are eroding very fast. Seems there should be a huge outcry about texting and distracted driving. I saw the video with the truck driver in Arizona looking at Facebook and killing the state trooper. In Texas texting and driving is against the law while operating a school bus, for novice drivers and any cell phone use in a school zone. It seems to me that there should be zero tolerance for any texting and driving in any situation.

 

Well, if we didn't have drivers taking drugs and driving 5 straight days and running into a school bus full of kids and not even knowing they did it, we wouldn't have to do this now would we?

When I hear people on the CB looking for or selling drugs, I wish the law would find them, impound the truck and take their CDL for life.

 

And here comes the race card.........

 

Do you have a source other then the article regarding false positives happening at a higher rate for African Americans? Because that isn't what I take from the Article. The Article is making two different arguments.

1. Dark hair and African Americans are more likely to test positive. --As in the test is more sensitive with dark hair in general, and perhaps something specific with African American's hair type.

2. The article points to examples of what causes false positives, nothing related to hair color or race was listed.

So I don't see a connection between African Americans and false positives. But if the article facts are true, I do see a problem with STANDARDIZING the test.

 

Was looking at the CVSA site for something and this little news item caught my eye. [h=1]2013 Legislative Updates[/h]NOV

082013
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[h=2]Pryor, Crawford Introduce Hair Testing Bills[/h]
Last week, Senator Pryor (D-AR) and Congressman Crawford (R-AR), along with the rest of the Arkansas delegation and Congressman Ribble (R-WI), introduced bills in the House and Senate directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recognize hair testing as an optional method to comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) drug testing requirements for commercial truck drivers. The bills seek to remove habitual drug users from the driver pool. The legislation does not require carriers to use hair testing; it simply would add hair testing as an acceptable method for carriers to screen for drug use.
With all the queries about which companies do hair testing. This could close the door for a lot of casual users that temp fate by recreational use.