Drug Testing

What's up with these "pain contracts"?

Spurred by the federal government's crackdown on prescription drug abuse, doctors around the country are resorting to "pain contracts" with patients in an attempt to protect themselves from charges they are Dr. Feelgoods. Such contracts typically require the patient to agree that "lost, stolen, or misplaced" drugs are not to be replaced and that the patient agree to be drug tested. Patients who refuse to sign such an agreement or who test positive for non-prescribed drugs--i.e. marijuana--are likely to be cut off.

School Drug Testing Has Little Impact, Dept. of Education Finds

Making highly motivated high school students urinate in a cup to play football or join the glee club isn't very effective, the Department of Education has found in a new study.

Medical Marijuana: ACLU Sues Wal-Mart for Firing Patient

In what could be a critical test case for medical marijuana patients in Michigan, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart for firing a worker who legally used medical marijuana.

Drug Testing: Louisiana House Committee Passes Voluntary Drug Tests for Officials Bill

It must be silly season already in Baton Rouge. A House committee there has deliberated on and passed a bill that would allow legislators and state officials to take voluntary drug tests and mental health evaluations and post the results on the Internet.

Drug Testing: Missouri Bill to Test Welfare Recipients Passes House, But Faces Battle in Senate

Republican House members in Missouri convinced their colleagues to pass a bill mandating drug testing for welfare recipients and applicants, but Democrats are filibustering the bill in the Senate.

Drug Testing: Missouri Senate Committee Passes Bill to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

A Missouri Senate committee with more moralistic wrath toward the poor than common sense has passed a bill that would require welfare applicants and recipients to be drug tested under "reasonable suspicion" and thrown off the rolls for three years if they test positive -- even though the legislature's own analysts say the bill would cost far more than it would save.

Drug Testing: Bills to Drug Test for Public Assistance Recipients Pop Up Again

Another legislative season begins across the land, and with it comes another crop of bills demanding drug testing of people receiving public benefits, from unemployment to food stamps to state medical assistance. They're expensive, they're impractical, and they're most likely unconstitutional, but that doesn't stop drug war demagogues from promoting them.

The Year on Drugs 2009: The Top Ten US Domestic Drug Policy Stories

What a year! A lot happened in 2009 when it comes to drug policy, much of it good. Last issue we reviewed the international developments. This last week of the year, we take a look at what we see as the ten most important domestic drug policy stories the year brought us.

Marijuana: Hawaii Insurer Denies Woman Transplant Because of Pot Use

Does taking a hit off a joint merit a death sentence? A Hawaii insurance carrier thinks so, and it's not alone.

Drug War Chronicle Film Review: "The War on Kids" (2009, Spectacle Films, 99 min., $19.95)

You see it all the time: A kindergartener arrested for kissing a classmate, a middle school student strip-searched in a desperate hunt for Ibuprofen, a high schooler jailed for bringing a joint to school. It's all part of the "War on Kids," according to a new documentary by that name. We review it this week.

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