cannabisnews.com: Prison Workers Face Drug Tests Prison Workers Face Drug Tests Posted by FoM on May 13, 2000 at 06:59:37 PT By Mike McCloy, The Arizona Republic Source: Arizona Central Applicants for jobs in Arizona's prisons are now being drug-tested before they're hired and will be randomly tested once they start work. The testing is the latest attempt to stem 2,700 reported drug incidents among the Department of Correction's 26,000 inmates during the past year. Four prison employees were turned over to prosecutors in the past year in connection with suspected smuggling of drugs into prisons, and another resigned in March before a Perryville prison informer's tip could be turned into a sting. Two of the employees were found with drugs or related devices in their cars as they arrived in prison parking lots, officials said. One was caught with marijuana inside the Florence prison, and another was accused by a Winslow inmate of failing to deliver marijuana and methamphetamine as promised. "Once in awhile, there's a bad apple," said Chuck Ryan, deputy corrections director. The department started testing job applicants in April and will phase in testing of prison workers through the year, Ryan said. Job applicants were not tested earlier, he said, because "it was not a statutory requirement." The Legislature changed that last year, when the Department of Corrections asked for $1 million for drug dogs to check visitors. Lawmakers insisted that the department's 10,000 workers be screened as well. Sen. Tom Freestone, R-Mesa, was a sponsor of the drug-testing bill. A veteran of four years on the Board of Executive Clemency, he visited prisons daily. "They always checked our briefcases," Freestone said. "I never, ever saw an officer being checked." Prisoners and visitors have long been tested for drugs. Donna Hamm, head of the Middle Ground prison reform group, is a longtime advocate of staff testing. "I wonder what's taken them so long," she said. The prison workers union helped develop the random testing program for employees, said Carl Williams, state president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "I haven't talked to anybody who is real negative," Williams said. The crackdown could, however, hurt already flagging efforts to recruit correctional officers. The department is struggling to staff the new state prison south of Buckeye, where just over half the guard jobs have been filled. Out of 15,000 people who showed interest in becoming correctional officers last year, 1,959 were hired. Most applicants washed out when asked about their drug use. "It's an automatic disqualifier," department personnel chief Meg Savage said. Published: May 13, 2000 Copyright 2000, Arizona CentralNote: Now you can view the next 20 Messages on CannabisNews by clicking here or going to the bottom of the front page of CannabisNews. I hope you enjoy the new links and the new features!CannabisNews & Drug Policy Information:http://www.cannabisnews.com/information/View Next 20 Articles:http://www.cannabisnews.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cnews/newsread.pl CannabisNews Drug Testing Archives:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/drug_testing.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by legalizeit on May 13, 2000 at 19:23:15 PT Uhhhhh.... (Beavis and Butthead laugh) Don't these Reefer Madness-crazed lamebrains realize that drug testing only shows who's actually using the drugs, not who's trafficking?I'll bet none of those drug-dealing guards actually use drugs. Why use them and lose your investment when you can make big profits making them available to inmates?>Donna Hamm, head of the Middle Ground prison reform group, is a longtime advocate of staff testing. >Sen. Tom Freestone, R-Mesa, was a sponsor of the drug-testing bill. How many of these piss-happy bureaucrats have their pockets padded by the drug testing industry?>The crackdown could, however, hurt already flagging efforts to recruit correctional officers. The department is struggling to staff the new state prison south of Buckeye, where just over half the guard jobs have been filled.Maybe people are getting sick of having to babysit pot smokers and other nonviolent offenders in jail, while at the same time having their private lives unnecessarily scrutinized.I just got back from a great vacation to Arizona, and it is a spectacular, beautiful place, but politically it's not pretty at all. :( [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: