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Comment by swombat | Hacker News Reader

Culling the résumés takes three days. Then he must make time to interview applicants, and spend $150 for each drug test.

I can think of a way that this company could save $150 per interviewed applicant. Can anyone else spot it?

What does recreational drug use outside of work have to do with plastics manufacture? Do the plastics feel different if the engineer had a joint two weeks earlier?

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There are lots of forces on a business that can mandate drug policies, especially when working with heavy equipment. Insurance companies can require it, as can federal and state regulations.

I think he's hiring (or not hiring) operators and technicians and the fact that there's a safety training program involved hints at some danger in the workplace. In that position I would also prefer someone with a clean drug test although I would still worry that they show up stoned on their first day and get their arm into the extruder or whatever.

I've never touched anything stronger than weed, and I haven't even been near that in a long time - but if an employer (new or current) asked me to take a drug test, unless they had a justifiable reason for believing I specifically was on drugs, then I'd refuse on principle.

An individual's principles are just the same as a company's policies. You might feel better about yourself refusing a drug test but you might miss out on an otherwise good job. It may not be a problem for a small company but a larger company that has to hire lots of manual labor, where drugs and alcohol are definitely a problem, cannot treat you differently so they have to insist on the drug test.

Current employers insisting on a drug test is definitely more problematic, though, if there's no reason to suspect a problem it seems unreasonable to insist.

In that case, why not ban any candidates who had a beer in the last two weeks as well? I wouldn't want someone to turn up drunk at work either.

Yes, they feel invisible because they weren't made because the guy had an accident because he shows up to work high and operates heavy machinery and gets hospitalized and the company's insurance rates go up.

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