* Bruce Rushton…

I ran into Rob, not his real name, a couple months ago at a local watering hole. He’s worked in the cafeteria at University of Illinois Springfield for more than five years. Last summer, he told me, he tried for a promotion that would have come with a sizeable raise. He says he would have gotten the job except, unbeknownst to him, UIS changed its drug testing policy as of July 1, making it clear that employees must pass drug tests before they can change positions, if the new position is on a list that strikes me as odd.

From executive chef to folks who wash dishes, no one who wants a job in food service at UIS can get hired, or promoted to another job preparing or serving food, without passing a drug test. Rob told me that his promotion was rescinded after he tested positive for pot, but he was allowed to keep his job, even though that position, also, is on the list. According to UIS policy, it’s a matter of safety. UIS police officers must pass drug tests, but not dispatchers who answer emergency calls and give directions to responding officers. Go figure.

What the heck is going on at that university? First the administration threatened to call the cops and even fire employees if they fed feral cats, which have been on the campus for decades. Then it was the administration’s pathetically feeble response to racism by some employees. And now only pot-free people can wash dishes in the cafeteria? Is campus administration living in 1985 or something?

* Back to Bruce…

Michael Higgins, owner of Maldaner’s restaurant, doesn’t make applicants pee. “I wouldn’t be able to hire anyone,” he says. “What waiter or busboy or dishwasher wants to wait a month to get pot out of their system to work for me?”

This doesn’t mean Higgins doesn’t care. Alcohol, he says, is a bigger problem than pot, and so he keeps a breath-testing device on hand in case someone is showing signs. Drugs also aren’t allowed on the job, applicants sign agreements upon employment acknowledging the rules and Higgins says he keeps a sharp eye. “I have excellent employees who work for me and have worked for me for years, but I know they do pot,” Higgins says. “I don’t care if you drink, I don’t care if you do pot, I don’t care what the hell you do. Don’t bring it to work.”

Agreed.

* One more excerpt…

While UIS last summer tightened its drug testing policy, Lincoln Land Community College will stop testing most job applicants for marijuana as of Jan. 1, when recreational pot becomes legal. All applicants still will be tested for hard drugs, and pre-employment drug tests will still include pot for prospective police officers, health profession instructors and folks who want to work with preschoolers in the college’s child development center.

We’ve reached the point where the local community college is more progressive than the University of Illinois campus. Weird.

…Adding… Good point in comments…

This post comes the day Major League Baseball Major League announced it is removing marijuana from the list of drugs of abuse and will be treated the same as alcohol. Testing for opioids (y’know, the stuff that actually kills people like Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs) will begin instead. It’s easier to have THC in your system playing in the Texas League (a state that used to give out prison sentences for possession of a joint) than working for UIS.