Pubdate: Fri, 30 May 2003 Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO) Copyright: 2003 The Springfield News-Leader Contact: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129 Author: Timothy Stanton DRUG TESTING: PERSON'S WORD MEANS NOTHING Re: The May 26 letter, "Innocent have nothing to fear." This is a phrase you hear frequently in reference to drug-testing. To me, it sounds like an evil decree issued by autocratic magistrates during the Spanish Inquisition. It reeks of McCarthyism, and I'm sure Josef Stalin would have been all for it. I suppose we should all take comfort that the perpetrators aren't imprisoned in a gulag or shot. The writer of the letter conveyed that his kids attend a school where all students must agree not to use drugs or alcohol. I assume the initial agreement is verbal or in writing. Still, they have drug tests. The conclusion: a person's word means nothing. Drug testing kids is one thing, but as a prerequisite for adult employment it has to go. Man is reduced to a series of blood levels and litmus tests. Employees are now doing the dirty work for the DEA because, without a test, most pot smokers could never be detected. Drug testing is an insult to man's integrity, and if we agree to it, we deserve to have all our rights stripped away. Timothy Stanton, Springfield - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens