269 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
269 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßÛßßßßßÛÛÜ ÜÜßßßßÜÜÜÜ ÜÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛßß ßÛÛ
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ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛ ÜÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜ ßÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜÛÛÝ Ûß
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ßßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÞÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÞß
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Mo.iMP ÜÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ßÛß
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ß ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛ ßÛÛÛÛÛ Ü ÛÝÛÛÛÛÛ Ü
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ÜÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ßÛÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÛÛÝ ÜÜÛÛ
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ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÜÜÜß ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛß
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ßÛÜ ÜÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÜÜ ßßÜÛÛßß ßÛÛÜ ßßßÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ßßßßß ßßÛÛß ßßßßß ßßßßßßßßßßßßß
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Drugs and their effects ]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [on Businesses/workplace ]
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[x]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [ ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: 09/94 # of Words:2112 School: ? State: ?
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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DRUGS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON BUSSNESS
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Drugs are used heavily for recreational purposes. It is becoming more
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common for addicts to get high at work. Stoned workers are inefficient and
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are costing companies millions in accidents and los t productivity.
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Searches to catch users have raised questions of the right to privacy. The
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problem has become so big that companies have banded together to form
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rehabilitation programs to help the affected workers. Drug use affects
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employees for one re ason or another in every position of a company, and
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this greatly reduces the efficiency of those employees, and this has
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prompted companies to initiate illegal searches, which question the rights
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of employees, and rehabilitation programs.
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Drug abuse causes many serious problems that could have been avoided if
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the user wasn't on drugs. The problem of drug abuse has its worse effects
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when the persons using drugs are responsible for millions of dollars in
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equipment, money, or lives. The armed forces w hich are responsible for
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the defense of the nation and its interests should be ready at all times.
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But due to drug abuse the performance of military personal can be seriously
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reduced. An air crash in 1985 on the aircraft carrier Nimitz killed 14
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crewmen and autopsies revealed that 11 of them were on drugs. "(The U.S.)
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spends billions of dollars on military defense, and our military may be
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crippled by this drug problem."T Drugs cost a lot and the need for
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them is ever increasing. A drug habit can quickly drain a worker's pay
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check while he still needs more drugs. An employee will embezzle to raise
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the funds necessary to buy more drugs, an employee in a high place has
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access to embezzle large amounts of cash or sell company secrets to rival
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compa nies or foreign powers. Drugs reduce the ability to make decisions,
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and if the addict is responsible for large amounts of cash the effects can
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be distasterous. The sales end of companies have been renowned for
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indulging in wine, women, and song before o r during the actual
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transaction, but the adverse effects on the decision making process by
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drugs and alcohol can induce the parties to buy at high prices or not buy
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needed supplies, which can cost large sums of money. Rival companies can
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even "pressure a drug-impaired executive into taking actions that hurt his
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company." "The abuse of drugs by executives causes disterous problem
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nationwide."Drug abuse also causes a leech effect on productivity
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due to workers not being at their best state o f condition. "Working while
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intoxicated, whatever the drugs, both the individual, the industry, and
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society." Workers on drugs are uncoordinated and unalert.
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Uncoordinated workers on an assembly line have a higher percentage of error
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than their sober counterparts making for defective parts and merchandise
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which will be returned by irate customers. This will cost a company in
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worthless merchandise and unhappy customers who most likely will not use
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their products again. A worker with drug proble ms also misses more days
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on sick leave than a worker without a drug problem. "We are just beginning
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to recognize the problem." The addicted drug users all have some type
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of reason for using drugs, or getting addicted.
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The reasons for people u sing drugs on the job are as varied as the drugs
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themselves. There are both stereotypical and practicality reasons for
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using drugs on the job. A chronolgical reason for drugs filtering up into
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business is that the drug oriented students of the sixties g rew up and
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went into careers bringing their drugs with them. Blue-collar workers use
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drugs to relieve the boredom of menial work. Years of working on an
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assembly line may create a high amount of tedium that only drugs can
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relieve. People in the high pr essure of white-collar jobs that create
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tension are prone to drug abuse. Manager types get paid well and "They are
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used to feeling masterful and are not likely to view drugs as
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threatening" so the odds are high of them getting addicted even
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though they are used to clean living. Jobs that require creativity such as
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artists use drugs to stimulate their creativity. The most logical reason
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for drug abuse is the accessibility of drugs at work and in society. If
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drugs are so accessible then of course there are going to be abusers. The
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government has tried to stop the flow of drugs inside the United States,
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but they haven't had any overwhelming success. Cocaine is becoming more
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popular because it provides an intense high that gives the user the feeli
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ng the he/she can do anything, and cocaine is easy to hide and use.
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Workers have devised many ways to use and move drugs through a company,
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such as sending drugs through normal interoffice messenger services, or
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switching drugs with medicine bottles and using them in front of everyone.
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Executives with their own offices have an even easier time taking drugs
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because of the privacy of their offices. In some cases drugs have become a
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part of company procedures. Sales have a reputation of warm up meetings
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with alcohol and now drugs are added to these parties in order to persuade
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customers to buy the product or service. In fields where the workers are
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addicted like modeling cocaine is buried in the budgets. This wide and
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open use of drugs have encouraged companies to do their best to crack down
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on drug users in the company.
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Companies are attempting to stop their employees from being on drugs.
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Workers are even turning in their fellow workers. Mainly because they are
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tired of working around stoned pe ople who may be a danger to themselves
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and the people around them. In attempts to do something effective,
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companies have initiated illegal searches of the private property of
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employees. Illegal searches are being done under the assumption that an
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employ ee is the property of the company and that the company can threaten
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the employee's job. A reason for doing more detailed searches of an
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employee is because "the only time (anyone) sees the workers with problems
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is when they reach the surface and by then (the employees) are pretty well
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gone." Material searches are of an employee's belongings and are
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designed to find the drugs themselves. The most common procedure is when
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company officials cut the locks of employees lockers and then search for
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cont raband, with or without the help of drug sniffing dogs. A more
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discrete way the companies search down drug users is by hiring undercover
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agents that entrap employees into using drugs. Catching more secretive
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drug users with drugs on them, because they a re clever or are just weekend
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users of drugs is more difficult. Companies have to physically search the
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employee's body which raises a lot of controversy. Urine testing gives
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rise to most discontent because of its humiliating way of getting a sample.
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B lood testing has its own inhereat problems because of the discomfort of a
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needle extracting blood. Because of the problems of conventional testing
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for controlled substances in the body's chemical tract, medical
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professionals have been coming up with new methods for testing the body to
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see if it has used drugs. One of the most feasible new types of test is
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the testing of hair. Hair keeps a permanent record of the body's chemicals
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including the drugs it has used. The best side of testing hair is that it
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requires less cooperation from the person being tested so it can be done
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without a lot of complaints. Employers are just beginning to start wide
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scale testing. It is becoming more common for job applicants to take drug
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tests. Volunteer testing for dru gs is just starting up. Mandatory
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testing of all employees does have a few hurdles to get over. Managers and
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executives wield so much power in a company that it is hard to get them to
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do something that they don't want to do. This has led to the rumor t hat
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"heroin use among establishment types is the most underreported social
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phenomenon in America today." Even with all of the testing procedures
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available they all have one common drawback, they are not 100% accurate.
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Drug testing has outraged emp loyees' rights groups and has triggered even
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more counter arguments from the employers.
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Drug testing has brought up several controversies over the right to
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privacy and an employer's right to have to workers who aren't on drugs.
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The real reason why " labor is not supporting testing in the work
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place" is because something personal might be found in a search and
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the violation of privacy is one step to the elimination of their guaranteed
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rights. Most labor unions point out "you need a search warran t to search
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(an employee's) home, but (an employee's) body is a lot more sacred than
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(employee's) home."0T On the company side of the dispute they feel
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that they "have a right and responsiblity to establish sound working
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conditions." Employe es feel that their off time is their own time
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and that they can do anything they want to do. While on company time
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"(employers) have the right to say how (employees) behave in the work
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place." But drugs have lingering affects so even if employees use
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them of their off time they are still impaired when they go to work, so
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there is no simple answer. "(An employers) No. 1 concern is
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safety" and drug impaired workers create a hugh safety problem
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because of there affected mental condition, and this gives the employers a
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very good cause to hunt down drug users. Still employees are afraid of
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drug testing because of myths of harsh and cruel treatment for being
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caught.
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Companies are trying to help those employees who are affected by drugs.
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Earlier, companies would terminate employees with a drug problem. But the
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reality of "termination for using marijuana in a company, but it would only
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merit a $100 fine in California" was unrealistic and unfair, so now
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a company will put the affect ed employee in a drug-treatment program.
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Another logical reason for companies to keep drug impaired employees is
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because "it is easier to help a person who has been on the job than it is
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to hire and train someone to replace him." And on top of th at a
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company's health-insurance benefits pay all the treatment costs. These
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treatment programs have a 73% success rate. It is in the company's favor
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to send an affected employ to a treatment program, which is totally
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feasible for the company. To help their employees to get off of drugs
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several the 500 largest companies have banded together to make up an
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effective program. Many of the Fortune 500 companies have set up in-house
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employee-assistance programs, and they have even set up toll-free 800 numbe
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rs for workers and their families to call for advice and information. The
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treatment of drug impaired workers is relativity new and therefore the long
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term effects of the programs is not known and can only be speculated at.
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Companies have noticed the problems that drugs produce and they are
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trying to stop the use of them by their employees. It is now becoming
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harder to use drugs and make a living. Since companies are controlling
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people who use drugs this might stem the flow of drugs into this count ry.
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The way drugs are being treated by companies "may be very effective in
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changing the way people view drug taking in this country." Drug use
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affects companies with in-efficiency and now companies are trying to stem
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the problem.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Castro, Janice. "Battling the Enemy Within."\Time,\127 11 (March 17, 1986),
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52-61.
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Chidsey, Donald Barr.\On and Off the Wagon.\New York: Cowles Book Company,
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Inc., 1969
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DeVries, Hilary. "Business and the Military Face Up to Drug Challenge."
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\Christian Science Monitor,\(May 5, 1982), 13.
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Flaz, Steven. "The Executive Addict."\Fortune,\(June 24, 1985), 24-31.
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Roan, Shair. "Substance Abuse: Can Employers Help?"
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\Ft. Lauderdale News/Sun-Sentinel,\(December 3, 1984), D1 & D4.
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Wakefield, Dan.\The Addict.\Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, Inc.,
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1963.
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Footnotes
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THilary DeVries, "Business and the Military Face up to Drug Challenge,"\Christain Science Monitor,\(May
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5,1982), 13.
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Steven Flaz, "The Executive Addict,"\Fortune,\(June 24, 1985), 26.
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Flaz, p.24.
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DeVries, p.13.
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DeVries, p.13.
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Flaz, p.27.
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Devries, p.13.
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Flaz, p.29.
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Janice Castro, "Battling the Enemy Within,"\Time,\127 11 (March 17, 1986), p.61.
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Flaz, p.59.
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Castro, p.61.
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Castro, p.61.
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Castro, p.61.
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Castro, p.61.
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Castro, p.57.
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Castro, p.61.
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THESIS
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Drug use affects employees for one reason or another in every postion of a company, and this greatly reduces the efficicncy of those employees, this has prompted companies to initiate illegal s
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earches, which question the rights of employees, and rehabilition programs.
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