As many of you may know, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit after Florida governor Rick Scott signed an executive order in March 2011 mandating drug testing for all state employees — both new hires and some existing employees, regardless of whether they are suspected of drug use. A handful of other states are also considering similar legislation.
As a former public employee, I don't have a problem with drug testing, that is, as long as every elected official in the state is also required to take a mandatory drug test. After all, we all pay elected official's wages and we don't want impaired legislators making critical policy decisions when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If a state or federal elected official fails a drug or alcohol test, they should be required to immediately resign from public office.
Additional Resource materials
WSJ: ACLU Challenges Drug Testing of Florida Employees
ACLU: Drug Testing of Public Assistance Recipients as a Condition of Eligibility
Don't stop with public employees. After all, this is a trillion dollar war on drugs. In fact, we should test everyone in America - since everyone in America is using taxpayer provided amenities, like roads, sewers, schools, public water, electricity generated by dams that are paid for with U.S. tax dollars. While we're at it, let's test individuals crossing the borders for alcohol and drugs. That way, we can reduce the number of foreign visitors who abuse drugs or alcohol within the borders of our state and nation. Oh hell, let's just test everyone! If someone has a false result, due to Ibuprofen creating a false positive for marijuana, or a poppy seed muffin creating a false positive for heroin, they can hire a lawyer and slug it out with the authorities. We can call it the Republcian Jobs Stimulus package.
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