Taboo Aviation Question FAR135/121

[smokinhole]

Random seaches are illegal. Get a lawyer and sue. Pretty soon they will be searching your house to see what magazines you read or anything they can find that might mean you are subversive.

Just what we need, More litigation ...............

Yeah I'm with ya on the random searches!

Problem is RANDOM DRUG TESTS are part of life in the transportation industry. I realize the point and the need for them in certain circumstances.

The problem I have is the the lack of discretion in penalties handed out in an attempt to enforce zero tolerance programs.

Give me a break, who'd of thought you could ruin your career by screwing up when you were throwing bags for a commuter airline? They made a example out of me, as if getting a letter in the mail that said United States of America VS. SmokinHole Did'nt get my attention enough!

 

[smokinhole]

Lori Clark,

Please check you Private Messages! Thanks

S.H.

 

[vetteracer]

Assuming your innocence, the problem that has arisen does speak volumes of the company you chose to keep. I did not grow up in a cave and have been to hundreds of parties. I have always tried to distance myself from any persons around me using drugs. Seems like timing, the planets aligned just right, and you were caught in a bad situation. I would have taken the drug test. They are more accurate then you think and if it was just some secondary smoke you inhaled in passing then I think you would have been fine. If you sat in a room with people burning marijuana for hours on end, then there is no difference between taking a toke or siting back and breathing the residual.

Drugs carry a stigma that seems to be overlooked were alcohol is concerned, DUI’s not withstanding.

Drug use also carries with it the assumption that you are a chronic user due to the addictive nature of many drugs.

Have you consulted legal counsel about using your private drug test to expunge yourself?

Mark

 

[smokinhole]

vetteracer,
The stigma and inference that this violation carries with it, is what bothers me the most. I pride myself on my morals and integrity. In a attempt to avoid being associated with drugs I forever linked myself to them. So Ironic it makes me sick.

Fortunately the company I kept and the person I was in my early twenties is nowhere near the person I am now. To say the least I'm a different person. I wouldn't wish what happened to me on my worst enemy, but it really gave me a wake up call and I'm probably better off for it in the long run.

In regards to getting it expunged from my record, they won't even think about it. Unfortunately, I'll still be explaining this one when I'm 50. When I submitted the tests to prove I was clean, the FAA turned it around on me. They charged that it just proved the depth of my intent to avoid the testing process and showed my further dissregard for the regulations. They really tried to make an example out of me and they did. I don't know if if had anything to do with the punishment but I refused the test in June 2000 and they revoked my certs and started the investigation two days after 9/11. They said I was a threat to national transportation security! Go figure, They did'nt care for the 1 1/2 years prior.

I think I'm stuck with this one for the long run.

 

[vetteracer]

Quote

The stigma and inference that this violation carries with it, is what bothers me the most. I pride myself on my morals and integrity. In an attempt to avoid being associated with drugs I forever linked myself to them. So ironic it makes me sick.

I can almost sympathies with your dilemma. I have been reviewing my records lately and I am just pissed off at myself for getting a dozen speeding tickets since I was 14 years old. Not to mention an alcohol possession by a minor and an exhibition driving pulling a wheeley with a 600 HP chevelle in the High School parking lot. Things we do when we are younger hang with us our entire lives. My dad did not care about anything I did other then drugs. He would have literally beaten the crap out of me and destroyed my life had he found even a roach clip in my car. So I figured that I best steer clear of that. Drugs seem to imply an entire lifestyle that is unacceptable to society.

The more experiences you have in life, the more opportunities you take, if you are busy, active, lead a full life, go to parties, have friends, travel, work, live, whatever, the more the opportunity to get caught doing something or in a situation like this. I think of everything I have done in the last 14 years and the good decisions that I have made out weigh the bad ones by 10,000 fold. But you are only called on what you have done wrong.

Mark

 

[smokinhole]

" you are only called on what you do wrong"

So true!

 

[Ailerongirl]

For what it's worth - After finding out the ramifications of my decision I went out on my own and had hair samples and certified tests done which proved I was clean for a period dating back 6 months prior to the incident.

As everyone has already said obvioulsy honesty is the best policy, but it wouldn't hurt for you to have the results of the test you did privately with you at an interview.

Good luck!

 

[smokinhole]

As everyone has already said obvioulsy honesty is the best policy, but it wouldn't hurt for you to have the results of the test you did privately with you at an interview.

Good luck!

Ha! Yeah, thank god I took those! They have been my saving grace over the past few years.

Unfortunately, the interviewers usually lock the doors on me when they see me draging my file cabinet full of paperwork up to the desk!

I feel like a **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** laywer presenting evidence at a interview......"And here we have Exhibit A"....."which is proved by Exhibit C" Sheeeeesh!

I wish I could have afforded OJ's attorney, I'd be home free! Come to think of it, you have a better chance of getting away with murder than winning a case with the FAA Mulisha.Talk about a kangaroo court, what a joke. The Judge and the prosecutors work for the same boss! And, if the Judge were to rule in your favor the FAA can overturn the judges ruling! Gimme a break, try that in a public court of law, the ACLU would be crying foul all the way to the Supreme Court.

Sorry....got off topic there....I'm just a tad bitter!

S.H.

 

[vetteracer]

I have would recommend when you mention the problem during an interview, don’t dwell on it and don’t act as though they are a jury and will find you not guilty. Admit the large details and explain your actions, then mention the follow up test you did and mention that you have the results if they care to inspect them.

Then move on, and leave the topic with a positive note, something to the effect of "It was a poor judgement call on me behalf and I have learned life changing lessons and to be more personally responsible for myself".

If you dwell on the issue and plead your case you will seem as though you are more interested in the total vindication of the incident rather then how you have learned how to overcome this and avoid anything like this in the future.

I am not sure what your personal appearance is, but a short haircut, no earrings, etc may help.

Mark

 

[ThomasR]

Influence and stigma is what society is allowing. I have been around drugy's both in aviation and ground transportation companies. They are a bread to themselves and readily recognizable. Any manager will know who is using. You don't need to penalize the entire country in an attempt to weed out a very small % of abusers. It is insane and extremely lazy on the part of government and any company that subscribes to this form of social abuse of it workers and an afront to the integrity of society in general.

It is not right. It is wrong. It is illegal and it is not a frivolous law suit to correct this injustice. If you refuse a durg test the government automatically recognizes you as a user. Try to find a job anywhere. I have never used drugs, in fact I have been part of the legal arm to stop drug use. It is illelgal to convict someone of criminal activity without some, ANY kind of proof. Yet if you refuse to give up your rights as a citizen you will be convicted without cause, simply because you refuse to expose your penis or vagina to pee in a bottle for some perverted idiots.

I think those who give in to this insanity without question or a word of discontent, they are the perverted ones.