Pubdate: Tue, 02 Jun 2015
Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)
Copyright: 2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Contact: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SendLetter/
Website: http://www.santafenewmexican.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n144/a05.html

LOOKING IN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Regarding Gina Tron's March 8 column from The Washington Post 
("Employers don't need to test for pot," Commentary), drug tests are 
essentially lifestyle tests designed to penalize marijuana consumers. 
Workplace drug tests may compel marijuana smokers to switch to more 
dangerous prescription narcotics to avoid testing positive. This is 
one of the reasons the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes student 
drug testing.

Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for 
days. More dangerous synthetic drugs like methamphetamine and 
prescription narcotics are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. 
If you think drug users don't know this, think again. Anyone capable 
of running an Internet search can find out how to thwart a drug test.

The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely associated 
with violent behavior is alcohol. Legal alcohol kills more people 
each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom