Get Active Subscribe Support Us

METH A SERIOUS PROBLEM, NO QUICK SOLUTION

Here's the latest hurdle to overcome in Lebanon and Laclede County if you're a plant manager, the company's human resources specialist, or for that matter, any businessperson, no matter the size of the company, with a position to fill.

You go through the process of advertising your position, interviewing for the position and finding good applicants.

Now add this to your problem of finding qualified applicants: If you find 10 good applicants, you'll have to throw out four.

Why?

Because chances are, those four -- 40 percent -- will fail a drug test and can't be hired.

That's according to figures released last week from America's Heartland Economic Partnership in Lebanon.

"We have, right now, an exceptionally high rate of failures on drug tests for new applicants.  That's going to be a community issue that we've got to address, and it's going to come to the forefront," said Steve Jenkins, the organization's president and CEO.

Jenkins said the number of drug-test failures directly affects the size and quality of Lebanon's work force, which is a key concern listed by manufacturers who responded to a recent survey conducted by the consulting firm Wilbur Smith Associates.  The firm released the results of its survey last week.

The primary drug problem facing industries, Jenkins said, and this will come as little surprise, is methamphetamine.

There is no easy answer, no quick solution, to the problem and it affects far more than just workplace hiring.

Meth has very quickly become the most serious drug problem our society faces, and it impacts us all on a number of levels, whether we realize it or not.

You may or may not know somebody who has dealt with meth use or manufacture directly -- we'd bet, however, that you probably do -- but because of the percentages, you certainly don't have to look far to find somebody it has affected.

You may know one of those four in 10 job applicants who missed out on a better-paying job because of failing a drug test.

Perhaps you've had a court date on a traffic ticket delayed because of courts clogged by meth cases.

Maybe a friend who has erratic mood swings you can't quite put your finger on to try and help them is dealing with a much bigger problem.

We're not saying that methamphetamine is the root of everything wrong in Laclede County.  We have problems that won't magically go away with the eradication of meth.

We're also not saying that the county is overrun with a bunch of meth-heads and that nothing good ever happens here.  Laclede County is a good place to live and work, but we can, and must, make it better.

Until we, as a community, accept the problem and get a little bit angry that it has become such a problem, it will remain.

With the problem will remain the effects, and they're numerous.