Pubdate: Mon, 11 Feb 2002
Source: Augusta Chronicle, The (GA)
Copyright: 2002 The Augusta Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.augustachronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/31
Note: Does not publishing letters from outside of the immediate Georgia and 
South Carolina circulation area
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

DRUG TESTS APPLAUDED

When Edgefield County Sheriff Adell Dobey announced his random 
drug-screening program, it not only fulfilled his campaign pledge of two 
years ago, it also brought his deputies, dispatchers and jailers in line 
with all other county employees in safety sensitive positions who for six 
years have been subjected to the tests. Why did the Sheriff's Department 
take so long to climb aboard? Because South Carolina law allows elected 
officials, such as sheriffs, to make their own drug-testing policies.

Dobey got a lot of mileage in his election campaign on the issue and 
rightly so. Law enforcement agencies should be the first to drug screen, 
not the last. To dramatize his commitment to the program, the sheriff and 
his chief deputy, Capt. Roger Lowe, were the first to undergo the tests. No 
surprise. They're both negative.

Another plus is that drug screening greatly lessens the county's legal 
exposure. Drugs are one of the first things a plaintiff lawyer looks at 
when a client seeks to sue for incompetence.
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MAP posted-by: Beth