U.S. Job Seekers Test Positive For Drugs At Highest Rate Since 2007, Study Finds

Most of the jobs we're talking about, that have the potential for disaster (and that's really the only reason the government needs to get involved, for the 'public good', the 'commons'), are in heavily licensed, trained occupations.  We're not talking about people who came off the street, it wasn't either direct planes over O'Hare or lowering the fries' basket into hot oil.  When people train for their jobs, when their employment in a profession requires licensing and continuing education and periodic review, they generally take great care in preserving that license and ability to earn a good living.  They've invested years and good money into it.  What drives them to use and abuse substances is not feeling good without substances.  That's standardly stress.  Job stress.  And that stress shows up in their job performance before they're resorting to substances.  And if you're not noticing it and doing something about  it, eliminating the circumstances that is creating stress on your employees, YOU/employer/manager are the problem.

What you're talking about is eliminating all risk from life, and that's just not possible.  Anticipating and preventing all possible risk.  How much prevention are you willing to do in any area of your life?

After 9/11, I saw where we were headed (Patriot Act, NSA, warrantless wiretapping, telecomm immunity, etc.) and said, "If the government locked us all up, put us in segmented communities which they'd be able to monitor and isolate at any given moment, we'd be safe from terror attacks.  But exactly how free would we be?"  The effect on the quality of our lives would change dramatically, because doing what is necessary to achieve guaranteed safety impinges on every other area of our life, from creativity to innovation and ingenuity.  Those who suggested strengthing cockpit door and putting air marshals on board all air flights were shouted down, "it's too expensive!"  Look at how much more we've spent, we're not any safer than we were on 9/10/2001, and the risk of terror attacks from blowback is higher now than it's ever been.

If drug use has never been higher (see stats from last week) and on-the-job drug use disasters are at an all-time low, drug use on the job isn't really a problem is it?
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