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| Elder Bush Aids Fight Against Drugs at Work |
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Posted by FoM on March 19, 2002 at 07:16:18 PT By Christine L. Romero, The Arizona Republic Source: Arizona Daily Star 
Former President Bush told about 500 people in Scottsdale on Monday that the fight against drugs in the workplace could help exterminate terrorism.The annual fund-raiser for the non-profit group Drugs Don't Work in Arizona will help businesses set up programs aimed at banishing use of drugs and heavy drinking. That could help increase profits, since drug and alcohol abusers can cause accidents and loss of productivity. "Drugs Don't Work isn't a liberal or a conservative or a Democrat or Republican idea," Bush said at the Phoenician resort. "It's just a good idea." The group gave him an inaugural award, named in his honor, for his efforts. Channel 12 (KPNX-TV), which is owned by The Arizona Republic's parent firm, Gannett Co. Inc., was among Monday's luncheon sponsors. The current Bush administration recently boosted the war on drugs and terrorism with $10 million for ads saying drug purchases support terrorism. Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network, the ads say, benefited from Taliban control of Afghanistan's poppy crop, from which much of the world's heroin is derived. In addition, drug use costs businesses nationwide between $60 billion and $140 billion annually, according to Partnership for a Drug Free America, the national umbrella group for private anti-drug efforts. About 87 percent of the nation's large companies, with more than 500 employees, test for drugs, and the law mandates testing for transportation workers and companies with federal contracts. But fewer than 20 percent of drug users and heavy drinkers work for the big companies. That leaves small firms, which don't usually test, most vulnerable, the Labor Department reports. Some in the drug-testing industry are trying to change this. Drugs Don't Work in Arizona, part of the National Drugs Don't Work Partnership, targets small businesses. It says seven out of 10 drug users are employed. "It's good in the workplace, and good at 5 o'clock," said Susan Jones, executive director of the organization in Arizona. "It makes drug-free parents and citizens." Critics say the program is hypocritical since it relies, in part, on contributions from tobacco and alcohol producers. Other big contributors include the makers of prescription drugs and genetically modified seeds. Stopping hard-core drug abuse isn't as easy as the Bushes makes it seem, said Keith Stroup, founder and executive director of Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Rather than from terrorists, much of the nation's heroin comes from Mexico, while most of its marijuana is home-grown or is imported from Canada, Mexico or Jamaica, he said. Stroup says many American adults use marijuana recreationally like they do alcohol, and it should be handled with the same care. But he said pot smokers shouldn't be treated the same as hard-drug users. "The average marijuana smoker is just as hard working," Stroup said. "If you drink alcohol and smoke tobacco that's terribly dangerous. (By keeping them out of the workforce) we are needlessly destroying the lives and careers of many hard-working Americans." Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who spoke at Monday's event, countered that the Taliban has directly profited from drugs, especially opium. "It's ruining lives. Whether they are American lives or not," Kyl said. About a year ago, Lorraine Bergman, president of Mesa-based Caliente Construction, started an anti-drug program for her 20 employees with help from Drugs Don't Work in Arizona. She estimates the start-up costs at $1,000. "I don't see why any small business wouldn't have it," Bergman said. "When the (drug) tests come back positive, I'm glad I found out. I feel a lot more comfortable, and the employees value it." Murray Lappe started one of first workplace drug-testing firms in the early 1980s. As the chairman of eScreen Inc., a Kansas-based company that makes rapid-result drug tests, he sees more small businesses like Caliente wanting inexpensive, fast and reliable tests. Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ) Related Article & Web Site: Anti-Drug Efforts Might Be Helping Terrorists CannabisNews Drug Testing Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #3 posted by FoM on March 19, 2002 at 08:47:09 PT |
| I know the president and his wife have had problems with alcohol and if he is alcohol free that's good and necessary but on Politically Incorrect they where kidding about Bush and someone that was at a party said he still drinks. Did anyone else see that show? I am not good at remembering word for word but I do remmeber it being said. I'll go look for transcripts and see if I can find it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Dark Star on March 19, 2002 at 08:17:47 PT |
| A terrible trend is developing in which the propaganda machine of the nation is becoming so entrenched that it will be increasingly difficult to any dissent to surface. Here we have the promotion and promulgation of a failed policy (drug testing) offered up as some kind of patriotic prerogative that the serfs treasure. The whole affair stinks. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on March 19, 2002 at 08:05:42 PT |
| Who can go to work drunk and expect to do a days worth of work? Unless you are W.C. fields. You will tip over the tractor and crush yourself. You'll cut off four fingers. You will terrify yourself. Stay home. [ Post Comment ] |
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