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Failing a drug test can cost you a job

22.05.12

As the joke goes, overuse of marijuana can harm short-term memory and long-term memory, and also short-term memory. But while the fight continues over marijuana's possible medical benefits, there is one area where the harm from marijuana use is clear: jobs that mandate drug tests.

With retiring baby boomers and a slowly recovering economy, the demand for skilled workers - such as mechanics, pipe fitters and commercial truckers - is on the rise. But companies in Texas are facing a shortage of these skilled laborers. Part of the problem is that workers simply do not have the vocational training to fill these well-paying positions. Another problem is that otherwise acceptable job appli-cants cannot pass mandatory drug tests.

In his address to this year's annual Texas Workforce Commission conference, TWC Chairman Tom Pauken recounted a story about a Texas job fair at which a company pre-approved more than 100 commercial trucker applicants, but had to turn away more than half for failing federally mandated drug tests.

Source: Houston Chronicle