Pubdate: Tue, 26 Apr 2005
Source: Pacific Daily News (US GU)
Copyright: 2005 Pacific Daily News
Contact: http://www.guampdn.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.guampdn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1122
Author: Steve Limtiaco
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

SYMPOSIUM CALLS FOR DRUG TESTING

It has been more than nine years since former Gov. Carl Gutierrez
issued an executive order to mandate random drug testing for
government employees, and since then only 14 employees have appealed
drug-related discipline to the Civil Service Commission.

Management won 12 of those appeals, said commission Executive Director
Vernon Perez, who speculated that only about one in four employees
bothered to appeal their punishment.

"The Drug-Free Workplace is in fact working," Perez said yesterday
afternoon, during the opening day of the "Mandatory Drug Testing Symposium:
Do We Pass? Do We Fail?" at the Hilton Guam Resort and Spa.

The event is sponsored by the governor's office, the Unified Judiciary
of Guam and the Guam Chamber of Commerce. The goal of the symposium,
according to the governor, is to get information and ideas to promote
drug testing and prevention and to decrease drug abuse in the
government and in the schools.

Perez said a drug-policy violation against GovGuam employees is hard
to beat because the existing policy is well thought out and objective.

Gov. Felix Camacho plans to make the testing program more effective by
transferring the testing funds to the Department of Administration,
administration Director Lou Perez said this week. That means agencies
cannot cite funding problems as a reason not to test their employees.

"With the governor's new directive, it seems there will be a lot more
testing upcoming," Vernon Perez said.

Cecilia Martinez, the administration department's human resources
administrator, gave an overview of the policy, which calls for random
testing of certain critical positions and which allows employees to
receive treatment after a first positive test.

Among other things, Martinez said the administration department keeps
an eye on the police blotter to determine if any government employees
have been arrested in connection with drug crimes. Agency directors
are given that information, which is enough "reasonable suspicion" to
require a drug test for that employee, she said.

Ice Connected To Most Cases

Leonardo Rapadas, U.S. Attorney for the districts of Guam and the
Northern Mariana Islands, yesterday provided an overview of the
island's drug problem, with the bottom line that crystal
methamphetamine, or ice, is at the root of most drug crimes.

He said about 97 percent of the federal drug cases filed on Guam are
related to crystal methamphetamine.

A panel of business representatives talked about their respective drug
testing policies, noting that it has become less expensive to test
employees in recent years, with more places able to provide the service.

Tom Berkemeyer, director of regulatory compliance for Continental
Airlines, said about 150 of the 600 employees of Continental
Micronesia must be randomly drug tested to comply with federal
regulations. The airline also conducts testing if there is reasonable
cause to suspect an employee is under the influence, he said.

Punishment is on a case-by-case basis, he said, with some employees
offered rehabilitation and others terminated. He said fewer than six
airline employees have tested positive during the past 13 years.

"Our job is not to catch someone who's doing drugs; ... we want to be
able to use this as a deterrent," he said. 
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