The Dialogue: What Readers Had to Say About Oregon Employers’ Struggle to Find Workers Who Can Pass a Drug Test

“This is no surprise. The state is infested with stoners.”

(Deanz Greens, Emily Joan Greene)

Last week, we wrote about a trend reported by Oregon employers: They're struggling to find workers who can pass a drug test (Quote of the Week, WW, May 30, 2018). Oregon's unemployment rate is at a record low of 4 percent, but state economists say the labor pool with clean urine appears to be shrinking. Here's how readers weighed in.

Roundupthe usual suspects, via wweek.com: "This is no surprise. The state is infested with stoners."

John Keller, via wweek.com: "Why can I legally be flying high on prescription anything but that three tokes of a vape pen from two weeks ago is a fireable offense?"

Angelina, via Twitter: "What gives an employer the right to make you give them some of your bodily fluids to work for them?"

Damien Smith, via wweek.com: "I think drug tests need to be a lot more specific and advanced than they are now to be effective, especially taking into account how long pot stays in one's system versus how long any impairing effects last."

Crystin Orser, via Facebook: "Someone tell employers marijuana is legal."

Sherry Johnson, via Facebook: "Then I guess businesses will just have to start accepting that people use cannabis, just like people drink. It's one thing to show up at work wasted, but it's a totally different problem when you won't hire people for what they do in the privacy of their own homes, and on their own time."

Kai, via Twitter: "Drug testing for employment should be abolished. Period. How do you justify firing [or] hiring someone by any other metric than their performance?"

JB Melcher, via Facebook: "There's always Uber."

Scott Falconer, via Facebook: "If the use of cannabis is a higher priority than gainful employment to someone, then who the hell am I to judge?"

Sue H., via Twitter: "It seems ridiculous that companies who operate in Oregon are allowed to prohibit employment for someone who smokes marijuana where it's legal."

RanchBoy, via Twitter: "In a tight labor market, holding on to dated approaches to hiring, like testing and screening out for ingestion of a legal substance, is a barrier to business success. Change your practices, people."

Ingrid Thorngren Gordon, via Facebook: "So nice to be retired and not have to worry about this bullshit."

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