For decades we have seen and heard about the consequences athletes face when they fail a drug test. They lose their credibility as an athlete; they lose respect from many of their fans; they are constantly faced with scrutiny from peers, fans, teammates, coaches, officials, and many others. What they also lose is their symbol of achievement - the trophy.
The trophy is the one thing for which athletes work so hard. When they imagine the height of their achievement, they are most likely imagining themselves on a podium or stage in front of an audience - of family, friends, and fans - accepting a trophy.
Just as an athlete dreams of a trophy, a middle-class worker dreams of one important thing that determines the viability of his/her life - a paycheck. Not all of us have the enjoyment of making a living out of playing sports or making money from our talents. Most of the population is expected to show up to a conventional job each day and earn a living (not to say that athletes don't work very hard to earn a living). In this sense, to the middle-class worker, the long awaited trophy is the paycheck.
Many employers nowadays are demanding drug tests be performed on employees. If the employee fails the drug test, then he/she is subject to dismissal, which inevitably leads to the loss of a paycheck, in much the same way the athlete loses the trophy.
Understandably, the employer wishes to ensure that employees are not under any substances that could cause serious mistakes, leading to accidents and injuries on the job (which would leave the employer liable in most cases), not to mention the moral significance of having a drug-free work place.
I do not contest the reasoning behind workplace drug testing.
However, I can't help but wonder why it is just in the workforce where this drug testing is taking place. When you think of your paycheck, you can't help but think about how much of that hard-earned money goes to taxes. It's easy to look around and see where our tax money goes: schools, hospitals and healthcare, roads, etc. And then there is the great portion of the tax money that goes to people in need of government financial assistance - welfare recipients.
There are various types of welfare recipients.
There are those who, for various reasons, cannot work and therefore in order to survive and/or support a family, they must rely on welfare. These people cherish every penny and commit it to the survival and betterment of the family. And then there are those who, for whatever reason, are quite happy living off the tax-payers hard earned money and have no qualms about committing that money to ill uses, such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc.
The question is this: if employees who support these welfare recipients are required to take drug tests in order to keep their trophy - their paycheck - then why shouldn't welfare recipients be required to take drug tests in order to keep their trophy - their welfare cheque?
If drugs are found in their body, shouldn't they lose their right to take money away from people who spend countless hours working to support them? Denying them drug money would mean another family on welfare could have more groceries in their cupboard that month, or could finally afford to enroll their little boy in little league.
So in the end, athletes lose their trophy if tested positive for drug use; employees lose their jobs - and paychecks - if tested positive for drug abuse; and what do the drug-using welfare recipients lose?
