cannabisnews.com: 'If You Smoke Pot, You Can't Work Here'
'If You Smoke Pot, You Can't Work Here'
Posted by CN Staff on October 29, 2004 at 16:54:47 PT
By Greg O'Claray
Source: Frontiersman
If you're looking for work in Alaska, don't be surprised to hear these words: "If you smoke pot, you can't work here."The folks who might say those words -- human resource managers -- screen and hire new employees for Alaska businesses, industries, government agencies and nonprofits. Most of them want nothing to do with you if you use marijuana and other illegal drugs.
Pot smokers and dopers can forget about another long list: The jobs and professional careers in Alaska that automatically reject applicants who test positive for illicit drugs. A small sample of those careers includes barge and ferry boat captains, commercial airline and bush pilots, police, troopers and security personnel, heavy-equipment operators and mine workers. And the list goes on.If you think you can just not smoke pot for a few days before going in for the pre-employment drug screening, think again. That might work once. But it's why employers also implement random drug screening. Maybe tomorrow, in a week or a month, sooner or later you'll be unemployed again and out the door. In a lot of personnel offices, that door will slam hard and permanently behind you.If you want information on how drug use can affect your health, talk to your doctor. If you want to know what impact drugs and alcohol have on crime, talk to a cop. If you want to know statistics on how drugs and alcohol affect Alaska families, talk to the people on the front lines of dealing with child abuse. And if you're a breadwinner, you better think long and hard about your family's future before you make the wrong "lifestyle choice."I recently went on the Internet just to look for reasons why people might want to smoke pot. One Web site listed all of the jolly rewards of marijuana use, including "the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant."But then the Web site blew it for me: "Mostly, though," it said, "it's about the freedom to get stoned."My message about your freedom is simple. Your lifestyle is your business as long as your choices don't endanger the person standing next to you on the job. But if your lifestyle interferes with workplace health and safety, that's your employer's business.The Department of Labor's primary interest is protecting workers' safety on the job and monitoring legitimate claims for unemployment benefits should you lose your job due to misconduct. The penalties range from monetary sanctions to criminal prosecution. A very sobering thought, indeed.If you're looking for work in Alaska, be prepared to hear these words: "If you smoke pot, you can't work here."Greg O'Claray is the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.Source: Frontiersman, The (AK)Author: Greg O'ClarayPublished: Friday, October 29, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The FrontiersmanContact: editor frontiersman.comWebsite: http://www.frontiersman.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Yes on 2 Alaskahttp://www.yeson2alaska.com/Alaskans To Vote on Legalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19738.shtmlAdvocates Push Measure in Alaska http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19709.shtmlYes on Measure 2: MJ Will Restore Orderhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19698.shtml
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on October 31, 2004 at 07:31:29 PT
B Green
I like your "fiddle philosophy"."R&B/Hip-Hop"...I'm bouncing in my chair with glee! Right on!I'm already more popular with my grand daughter and her friends than I have the energy to live up to. I guess I'm just"hot" and can't help it. :-) A young friend of hers was watching said grand daughter and I dancing in the kitchen and her friend, observing our antics, said, to my grand daughter, "Good grief! Your hot, your mother's hot, even your grandmother..."...then she stopped...embarrassed at herself.Grandmother's aren't supposed to be "hot" are they? Lol!
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Comment #20 posted by kaptinemo on October 31, 2004 at 05:24:53 PT:
CorvallisEric brings up an good point
It's been said all through the 'progressive' media that the 'Conservative' movement built up, over the past 30 years, a media machine capable of acting in much the same way the old fascist/communist media outlets functioned, but with the obvious twist of making money in the process of propagandizing.Should it surprise anyone if the template for this is superimposed on the DrugWar? A recent perfect example is the phrase "It's not your parent's marijuana". The phrase was concocted, no doubt tested with sundry psycho-social metrics, and then released at the very top of the DrugWar hierarchy (ONDCP) and disseminated throughout the DrugWarrior community. This phrase would then be used by the local recipients WITHOUT A SINGLE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that those speaking this phrase did not originate it, yet they imply to have done so. I tried to finds the exact article, but due to the enormous number of hits, I am unable to find the exact quote> But an article appeared here at CNEWS in which a treatment center spokeperson made precisely that implied claim of originality - "I like to say it's not your parent's marijuana" was the quote I remembered and commented upon. It became clear when the previous days articles were charted, the dissemination of this latest piece of propaganda confirmed the origin of the statement as being the ONDCP's own Johnny Pee. The lazy intellectual incest of these DrugWarriors is only matched by their dishonesty.
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Comment #19 posted by BGreen on October 31, 2004 at 05:19:29 PT
Hope Re: post #13
The music group "Alabama" says "If you're gonna play in Texas you gotta have a fiddle in the band," and the music group "Asleep at the Wheel" says "If you're gonna play the fiddle you gotta have a Texan in the band."I honestly don't know what the rules are for Alaska, but I think you could help us get gigs in Texas.Now, the question of how an "air" fiddle player fits in with my R&B/Hip-Hop band might be tough to answer.One thing I can guarantee is that you'll be really popular with your granddaughter and all of her friends. LOLThe Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #18 posted by CorvallisEric on October 30, 2004 at 20:10:45 PT
Misrepresenting his source?
I recently went on the Internet just to look for reasons why people might want to smoke pot. One Web site listed all of the jolly rewards of marijuana use, including "the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant."But then the Web site blew it for me: "Mostly, though," it said, "it's about the freedom to get stoned."I was curious about the "Web site." The only thing I found on Google was "High Hopes in Alaska for Sweeping Pot Law" by Stuart Eskenazi, Seattle Times Staff Reporter - a partly negative and obviously sarcastic but interesting article from September 25, 2000:The folks behind a statewide ballot initiative to decriminalize marijuana in Alaska will stare you down with their glassy eyes and sermonize on the numerous commercial uses for industrial hemp, the environmental benefits of hemp production and the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant. And sure, the Nov. 7 measure is about all of those things.Mostly, though, it's about the freedom to get stoned.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7173.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by dr slider on October 30, 2004 at 19:35:13 PT:
Happy Halloween
It seems to me, under current law, any cannabist could be charged with aiding the enemy in their "War on Terra". This supposed link is spread by the DEA's roving propaganda machine and in "anti-drug" advertising. Remember, with such a charge, you simply disappear.
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Comment #16 posted by JustGetnBy on October 30, 2004 at 12:34:32 PT
Yellow Star
If the govt. (notice I didn't say our govt.) doesn't change it's direction and thinking on its war on the people, I fear cannabist will become the Jews of the 21st century.
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Comment #15 posted by drfistusa on October 30, 2004 at 11:19:59 PT
A night of hard drinking and a few Oxi's
hard drinking is a fact of life in the north, Is a hung over drunk a better or safer pilot than one who had a joint and a good nights sleep?????????????????????
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on October 30, 2004 at 07:49:26 PT
We have a lot of Vets here
I like that. Thanks guys for trying to keep your people free and safe.
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on October 30, 2004 at 07:43:49 PT
BGreen
"I may have to do an extended concert tour in that bastion of freedom."Application for employment:I play a mean "air" fiddle!(I never saw my little dog walk anywhere...he always trotted, ran and skittered...being a toy Chihuahua...until he began to "walk slowly" from the room whenever he saw me take my fiddle out to practice. Soooo...after a grandchild broke another string for me...I decided to stick to "air" fiddle for the sake of all.)
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 29, 2004 at 22:11:19 PT
ekim
I know you're right. Maybe we will see some changes in the future. People are not as willing to just take everything that is expected of us normal average folks. Michael Moore started a revolution of a kind and I don't believe it is going to stop for at least awhile.
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Comment #11 posted by ekim on October 29, 2004 at 20:55:56 PT
hey FoM the Lawmakers too
funny how the lawmakers have exempted themselves at our expense we get j-peed and they don't.
but the drug testers or {sretstet gurd }have taken my freedom. a freedom that I fought for a long year and a half. I did not go to nam for the sights. All those that have served and are serving are doing so to keep all of us free. we have fought for freedom over ones race -- ones religion -- partners--now we are battling to end the complete eradication of cannabis from the planet.
but most of all the dirty lie that smoking a joint is a disease. just as slavery - child labor- no unions -just cause big business says it don't make it so.
http://www.thehia.org
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Comment #10 posted by cloud7 on October 29, 2004 at 20:41:55 PT
...
Why only keep people in Alaska unemployed who smoke legal pot? Why dont we twist this nonsense up to another level and retaliate with "If you drink alcohol, you can't work here." The applicant will usually respond that he would never even consider drinking at work and may only have a glass of wine with dinner at home. Flippant remarks like this should be quickly disregarded as the mark of someone who is so deep in his addiction that he can only control his hunger for liquor for the 8 hours at work and lives for 5 o'clock to roll around so that he can drink himself out of his mind. He clearly would be nothing but a time bomb for the company.I think the most glaring error in this article is the omission of the obvious fact that no one who smokes pot will be looking for jobs anyway. But in the end, once the amotivation takes over and the brain cells begin to cease firing after that first puff of the new super weed, no one would want them as employees anyway. Kind of a tragic catch 22.Nothing like a marijuana initiative to bring all the shrill, hysterical enemies of freedom out of the woodwork.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 29, 2004 at 19:30:03 PT
BGreen
I didn't think of your profession. Yes that would be really good too. We just watched a half an hour show on IFC about F/9-11. The Vote for Change Tour will be re-broadcast tomorrow night on the Sundance Channel. I hope all the Initiatives pass and that we have a change in power and I will be rejuvenated. I don't like living with doom and gloom around every corner. Kerry is better then Bush but he is only a human being and will make mistakes if elected but it would be hard to duplicate the errors Bush has made.
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Comment #8 posted by BGreen on October 29, 2004 at 18:57:28 PT
You Forgot About My Profession, FoM
All of us musicians can probably still find jobs. As a matter of fact, if this passes, I may have to do an extended concert tour in that bastion of freedom.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #7 posted by siege on October 29, 2004 at 18:35:12 PT
unconstitutional
It is time to pass laws that kills the dam drug tests
saying that they are unconstitutional and degrading and humiliating and on another note I can take ((legal Store drugs)) and work for you, you stupid Turd Twister. So if it is voted in that is the same as ** legal ** stupid!!
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 29, 2004 at 18:34:50 PT
If You Smoke Pot You Can Work Here
Just think of the places a person could work if it passes.1. Coffee Shops2. Gardening Jobs3. The Lighting IndustryMaybe they'll even open a Baggie Factory then! LOL! I couldn't resist that one.
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Comment #5 posted by westnyc on October 29, 2004 at 18:34:35 PT
???
I'm very uncomfortable with that word GW; but, I understand that it is a point you are making and nothing judgemental.
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Comment #4 posted by global_warming on October 29, 2004 at 18:26:26 PT
More Comments
If you're looking for work in Alaska, don't be surprised to hear these words: "If you smoke pot, you can't work here."Imagine someone who could utter these words, who is this person? What is this persons driving effort, that would allow them to utter such strong words?The people that have built an empire on this war on drugs, the people that support this drug prohibition, are speaking up now, they are defending their place, they are defending their jobs, they are defending their livelihoods, their arguments are designed to frighten and confuse, those many people that do not use any illegal drugs, are confronted with these horrible pictures of our world, like some picture that "Niggers" and "Terrorists" will take over our world.It is not the niggers, it is not he terrorists, that will take our world, it is the greedy corporate bastards of this creation that will destroy our world.-gw
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Comment #3 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 29, 2004 at 18:09:56 PT
Wrong
If marijuana is legal, businesses can be sued for civil right violations. Dang! All those years of oppression down the drain.
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on October 29, 2004 at 17:21:50 PT
While We test Your blood,
While We test Your blood, let's see if You're a Jew.420It is not enough to show up for work and not be impared. What if they could check if You had sex last night and You were not married?Darkness.
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Comment #1 posted by billos on October 29, 2004 at 17:19:04 PT
Dear Mr. Greg O'Claray...............
don't worry about me, boy. I only imbibe every single night of the week but don't worry, I make sure I'm legally sober in the morning. Although my body tires of constant alcohol abuse which is changing my whole physiology, I am still sober in the morning.I also dring googles of coffee avery day. I have so much caffeine in my system by the time I arrive for work I am walking as if I am having an epilectic fit. Thank God that is a legal drug, eh?But, hey, I don't do the demon weed so I am ready to work for you. Moron.
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