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. - ---