Fire officials described the effort as a precautionary measure and said they did not believe drug abuse within the agency was widespread. But some in the department have said they worry that firefighters may resort to drug or alcohol abuse to cope with the devastating loss of 343 of their colleagues in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11.

The department has long prohibited the use of illegal drugs, but fire officials said that enforcement of the policy had been spotty. To show leniency involving substance abuse of any form, the officials said, would be dangerous and would undermine public confidence in the force.

"I am very sympathetic to their concerns," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said of grieving firefighters. "On the other hand, resorting to drugs is where we draw the line because it is too dangerous. Dangerous to them. Dangerous to their colleagues and to the public."

The department's policy on drug and alcohol abuse, last revised in 1996, recommends the dismissal of firefighters for any drug infraction, on duty or off.

As a practical matter, however, the department has often shown leniency in such cases. In recent years, firefighters and fire officers who were charged with drug possession or who failed a drug test often were disciplined but not dismissed.

Indeed, several weeks ago, Mr. Scoppetta himself suspended, but did not dismiss, a rookie firefighter who tested positive for marijuana use. Mr. Scoppetta said he would not discuss decisions involving individuals. But in general he said he did not think it was fair to begin strictly enforcing the policy until he had made it clear to everyone in the 11,000-member department that, as he put it, "the rules of the game have changed."

"Without sending out a reminder it seemed inappropriate or unfair to apply the policy when it was not applied in the past," he said. "And my review showed me the policy was not being applied evenly."

The Police Department has had a zero tolerance policy since the mid-1980's and generally dismisses officers without exception if they test positive for illegal drugs.

Mr. Scoppetta said he had informed the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association of his plans on Thursday. An order alerting individual fire companies of the department's intentions was issued last night, fire officials said.

Both unions said they supported the department's efforts to eliminate the use of illegal drugs, but said that they hoped that officials would continue to exercise discretion. "We are concerned that each case should be handled individually by someone capable of making a judgment call," said Capt. Peter Gorman, president of the fire officers association, which represents many supervisors.

The Fire Department routinely administers drug tests to job applicants and to rookie firefighters as they finish their first year on the job. It does not do random testing on more senior personnel, except in cases where someone has filed an allegation of abuse or when a firefighter has been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, fire officials said. The existing policy also contains sanctions for alcohol abuse that include the loss of up to 90 days' pay for being intoxicated while on duty.

Mr. Scoppetta said the department did not have any evidence that drug or alcohol abuse within the department had risen since Sept. 11. But another senior fire official said that some in the department were concerned because studies have shown that rescue workers experienced higher rates of substance abuse after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

The alert issued yesterday said the strict stance was being put into effect immediately. It also stated that firefighters who felt they had substance abuse problems could avoid sanctions if they came forward and entered counseling.

Fire officials said that, since Sept. 11, some 2,500 members of the department have sought counseling for a variety of problems, a large increase over a typical year, when only about 600 people seek help from the agency's counseling unit. The officials said the vast majority of those who have come forward in the past seven months were suffering from stress but that 114 of them sought drug or alcohol counseling.

Complete Title: Fire Officials Will Enforce Zero Tolerance for Drug Abuse

Source: New York Times (NY)
Author: Kevin Flynn
Published: April 6, 2002
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/

CannabisNews Articles - Zero Tolerance
http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=zero+tolerance

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help

Peace.

[ Post Comment ]

Marijuana offers many benefits, both mental and physical. It's never harmed anyone except via arrest and prison.

[ Post Comment ]

Seems to me there are several million tons of "Broken Windows" caused by some very dangerous people... who are still at large. Perhaps the city of New York might have better things to do than chase cannabis consumers. And insulting it's own heroes...

[ Post Comment ]