Heavy Hitters!

This evening on Fox 11 news,there was a story about an employee of the County School board was arrested on drug charges.

http://www.wvah.com/newsroom/shows/10wed.shtml#9

The story struck me on a couple of different levels.....

1. from the video on tv, I think that it is the same Jeff Carver that I
attended school with.

2. Damn! have I aged that much, also?

3. Although his job was not directly related to dealing with children,
does not this not speak to the need of drug testing at all levels in our
schools? Should not all employees of our school system be held to a
higher(pardon the pun) standard?

4. On the flip side: I have never understood how the possession of a 1/4
ounce of any illegal substance could have the charge of "possession
with intent to deliver". I have always seen this charge(for minute
amounts) as taking a simple "user", and making pushers out of them.
The fact that he had cash on him at the time of arrest, does not make
him a dealer(although he probably should have used some of the cash
to renew his registration).

5. Some of us(from the 70's) never grow up. If we do, we end up
changing our vices from illegal ones, to legal ones.

I'm shocked, shocked to find that drugs are being used in here!



The KC School system is crawling with druggies, pedophiles and MI. When will the masses wake up?

TimeEnuf2 wrote:4. On the flip side: I have never understood how the possession of a 1/4
ounce of any illegal substance could have the charge of "possession
with intent to deliver". I have always seen this charge(for minute
amounts) as taking a simple "user", and making pushers out of them.
The fact that he had cash on him at the time of arrest, does not make
him a dealer(although he probably should have used some of the cash
to renew his registration).

If you are speaking about a 1/4 ounce of pot, I could understand, but this is a 1/4 ounce of cocaine (street terms: 2 8-balls). This would be enough for 60 people get a cocaine high. This would vary with the tolerance level of the users give or take 20 people.

As for the $1300 in his car, sounds like he was distributing some of what he had to at least friends if not selling little portions to other users.

If I were a cop, which I will never be, even I would be suspicious of this guy being a dealer. Not a big deal in my mind if he was a bartender or a Seven-11 worker, but this person should not be allowed in the school system. Drugs should not be banned, but those that use them should not be in an occupation that involve machinery or children.

Jim:

Thanks for the enlightenment on cocaine usage.
Although my past is far from innocent, my exposure to cocaine was minimal.
I would still say that this doesn't automatically makes him a dealer.
Rule number one of obtaining anything that you use use lot of, is to buy in bulk.
Yes, a 1/4 of an ounce could get 40 -80 people high, it could also last one person 30 to 60 days "based on tolerance levels".

Overall though, it is good to see that we both can agree on something:

"but this person should not be allowed in the school system. Drugs should not be banned, but those that use them should not be in an occupation that involve machinery or children."

Does this mean that you are "on board" with mandatory drug testing of all school board employees, Jim?

I am not sure if I would agree to manditory drug testing, because the effects of marijuana last only an hour to 3 hours but will stay in your system for up to 4 weeks.

While I do not want children to be watched by someone that is high at school, just because they test positive for drugs does not mean that they are doing drugs during the time they have kids in their custody.

In theory, I wish all could be drug free that deal with kids. Many teachers drink on their off hours, or take prescription medicine. That does not mean that they are under the influence during school hours. Doing pot during off hours is not that much different other than the fact that it is illegal.

LiberalJim wrote:I am not sure if I would agree to mandatory drug testing, because the effects of marijuana last only an hour to 3 hours but will stay in your system for up to 4 weeks.

While I do not want children to be watched by someone that is high at school, just because they test positive for drugs does not mean that they are doing drugs during the time they have kids in their custody.

In theory, I wish all could be drug free that deal with kids. Many teachers drink on their off hours, or take prescription medicine. That does not mean that they are under the influence during school hours. Doing pot during off hours is not that much different other than the fact that it is illegal.

Again Jim, I do not disagree with you about the testing methods of marijuana usage, however this cannot be used as an excuse for someone saying "I smoke a joint last night", instead of having smoked it on the way to school.

There are no easy answers to this problem, but I will always lean towards what I think is the best solution for the children.

I still think the solution is to base pay raises for teachers(and all other school board employees) on performance and passage of drug tests.
Drug tests are not mandatory, but if you want a pay raise, you will take a drug screen test as part of the process of receiving a pay raise.

If you want to do drugs(legal or illegal) and are not happy with your pay....... find a job that doesn't require drug testing!



It has always amazed me that workers at Lowes or Go-mart are held to a higher standard, than what we hold people in charge of our children eight hours out of the day.

Just curious: what other illegal activities is it OK for public servants to engage in?

I am not sure I think it matters much where a law breaker works. Especially BEFORE they are caught.

TimeEnuf2 wrote:If you want to do drugs(legal or illegal) and are not happy with your pay....... find a job that doesn't require drug testing!

ok - what's the problem with "drugs that are legal" - defined as prescription drugs being taken according to the prescription for a current problem/diagnosis whether it be acid reflux, depression, migraine, diuretics, high blood pressure medication and so on?

Or OTC medication for a headache? or stomach ache? Or athlete's foot? What about menstrual cramps?

You need to clarify your statement about which situations you want included in your sweeping brushes.

wvsasha wrote:

TimeEnuf2 wrote:If you want to do drugs(legal or illegal) and are not happy with your pay....... find a job that doesn't require drug testing!

ok - what's the problem with "drugs that are legal" - defined as prescription drugs being taken according to the prescription for a current problem/diagnosis whether it be acid reflux, depression, migraine, diuretics, high blood pressure medication and so on?

Or OTC medication for a headache? or stomach ache? Or athlete's foot? What about menstrual cramps?

You need to clarify your statement about which situations you want included in your sweeping brushes.

I would be more scared of a teacher taking antidepressants than someone smoking weed during class. And would be more afraid of a teacher that because of a drug test stopped taking prescription drugs during the day to avoid a positive test than a pot smoker partaking only at night.

wvsasha wrote:

TimeEnuf2 wrote:If you want to do drugs(legal or illegal) and are not happy with your pay....... find a job that doesn't require drug testing!

ok - what's the problem with "drugs that are legal" - defined as prescription drugs being taken according to the prescription for a current problem/diagnosis whether it be acid reflux, depression, migraine, diuretics, high blood pressure medication and so on?

Or OTC medication for a headache? or stomach ache? Or athlete's foot? What about menstrual cramps?

You need to clarify your statement about which situations you want included in your sweeping brushes.

To be specific, I was mostly thinking about alcohol when I posted the comment, but now that you mention it, possession or usage of prescription drugs without a prescription would make them illegal, wouldn't it.................
I have no issues with OTC or medication prescibed by a doctor ...... still too bad about how a 17 year old student can get in so much trouble for having or using OTC drugs at school.

LiberalJim wrote:I would be more scared of a teacher taking antidepressants than someone smoking weed during class. And would be more afraid of a teacher that because of a drug test stopped taking prescription drugs during the day to avoid a positive test than a pot smoker partaking only at night.

And that is why mental health/hygiene issues remain such a closet topic, even among families.

Jim - I expected better from you on this. I hope I'm reading your statement as you would be concerned for the health/welfare of the employee and their charges on that day off the medications should they be so silly as to think that stopping one days dosage should affect their pee test. I hope I"m not interpreting your words to say that the general day to day ability of the teacher is negatively affected by taking anti-depressants.

Just drug test them all. If you want a job where you can smoke dope and do drugs there are plenty of opportunities out there, just don't be a teacher.

If certain drugs and/or mental illnesses are sufficient to disqualify one from legally owning a weapon, why would those same people be able to teach? Doesn't that also require good judgement, or whatever is the reasoning behind denying weapon ownership to some based on drugs that they take or illnesses that they have?

Everyone accepting public funds, whether as an employee, on welfare, as a contractor, or whatever, should be subject to drug testing. The only exception I can imagine is retirees from public employment.

Will this include alcohol addiction?