2nd March 2010, 08:16 PM
hey stripey...your concern for my well being touches my jaded old heart....:-)
there are 3 points i want to make...
1. codiene...its a tricky one for companies and drug testing companies...here's why...its Science, kids, so pay attention:
dihydrocodiene [the from used in SOME brands-Paramol and some Solpadiene] metabolizez to diamorphine in the human body, which is essentially, more or less, what street heroin is [barring the impurities etc in that product...]....this means that a positive test for 'codiene' can be read as a positive for heroin....as far as i know , there has NEVER been a succesful case brought against an employee for this positive result, because of this ambiguity...
2. it is freely available, without prescription, so again, its tricky for an employer to make a case against you for this....they may well be mis-informed by testing companies about a result...some companies are aware of this ambiguity, others are not...
3.its not about Health and Safety...iits about insurance...companies with 'vigorous' drug testing policies will pay a lower premium than those seen to be more relaxed.
there is an issue with machinery and driving, but as most of us dont operate machinery at work, its largely irrelevant...with driving, unless you're being paid by the company to drive people, then its up to the person driving and anybody getting a lift with them....that passenger may have a case against a driver who crashes and injures them, if that is caused by substances....thats a private matter though, as such.
lastly....its the paracetamol in the pills that does the most damage [liver function], so the ones with ibuprofen are 'safer', as it were. if you do use drugs, you really really should get the Release info [excellent site, with info on your rights with regard to the police and the law]....
there are 3 points i want to make...
1. codiene...its a tricky one for companies and drug testing companies...here's why...its Science, kids, so pay attention:
dihydrocodiene [the from used in SOME brands-Paramol and some Solpadiene] metabolizez to diamorphine in the human body, which is essentially, more or less, what street heroin is [barring the impurities etc in that product...]....this means that a positive test for 'codiene' can be read as a positive for heroin....as far as i know , there has NEVER been a succesful case brought against an employee for this positive result, because of this ambiguity...
2. it is freely available, without prescription, so again, its tricky for an employer to make a case against you for this....they may well be mis-informed by testing companies about a result...some companies are aware of this ambiguity, others are not...
3.its not about Health and Safety...iits about insurance...companies with 'vigorous' drug testing policies will pay a lower premium than those seen to be more relaxed.
there is an issue with machinery and driving, but as most of us dont operate machinery at work, its largely irrelevant...with driving, unless you're being paid by the company to drive people, then its up to the person driving and anybody getting a lift with them....that passenger may have a case against a driver who crashes and injures them, if that is caused by substances....thats a private matter though, as such.
lastly....its the paracetamol in the pills that does the most damage [liver function], so the ones with ibuprofen are 'safer', as it were. if you do use drugs, you really really should get the Release info [excellent site, with info on your rights with regard to the police and the law]....