Drug testing for public employees

Should periodic drug testing be required of public employees?

I am hearing more and more stories of illegal drug use by employees of various governmental employees.

Are there police officers, sheriff's deputies (and corrections officers), firefighters and other governmental employees who are using illegal drugs? The only way to find out is random drug screens.

A department should establish and announce a program of random screenings and then "surprise" employees regularly with required screenings. A rehab program should follow the first positive test; a second positive should result in termination. Or should prosecution follow the first positive?

I was visiting in Judge Weech's mental health court yesterday at 1:00PM and observed him reading the riot act to one defendant who was regularly missing court-ordered drug screens. This defendant was not showing up for appointments with the probation officer, at which a drug screen would be performed.

For Judge Weech, refusing to show up on numerous occasions for a drug screen is the same as a positive result. In other words, if a defendant knows he'll test positive, he would not want to submit to a drug screen; right?

This defendant was ordered to show up every Monday morning for the next two months for a drug screen. If the defendant is a no-show, Judge Weech will issue an arrest warrant.

Illegal drugs are an insidious, vicious part of our culture today. Once a person is hooked, it is very, very hard to go clean and stay clean. But it can be done. It takes will power (often very difficult to muster and maintain against the cravings of the body for the drug(s)), professional help that is available, and the right kind of support system, family or otherwise. The biggest ingredient to success is the personal decision and that it very likely cannot be done alone.