249 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
249 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
September 1991
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THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE DRUG TESTING POLICY
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By
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W. Michael Troop
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Acting Kentucky State Police Commissioner
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Secretary of Justice
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and
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Jerry Lovitt
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Major
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Commander, Operations Division (East Branch)
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Kentucky State Police
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Today, it is no longer enough for a law enforcement agency
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to claim that it is drug free; it must prove it. To this end,
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the Kentucky State Police developed and implemented an employee
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drug testing policy. This policy is an enhanced version of the
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Kentucky State Government's policies that will help to promote
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further the concept, and hopefully, the reality of a drug-free
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workplace.
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CREATING THE POLICY
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Department administrators set out to make the drug testing
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policy a product of employees. To begin, they appointed
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representatives from the Trooper Advisory Panel and the Civilian
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Advisory Panel, whose members are elected by sworn and civilian
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employees respectively, to a Drug Testing Advisory Committee.
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Then, employees from other areas of the agency, such as data
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processing, the laboratory, personnel, and the Legal Office,
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were also appointed to the committee. A Branch Commander from
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the Operations Division headed the 16-member committee. After 4
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months of research and planning, the committee formulated a drug
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testing policy that was fair, workable, and one that ensured
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employee privacy, integrity, and dignity throughout the testing
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process.
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The committee also developed a 20-page booklet to
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communicate the key points of the drug policy to the employees.
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And, prior to implementing the policy, a staff officer visited
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each of the Kentucky State Police's 16 posts to present the
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program to the employees and to address their questions and
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concerns. Additionally, post and section commanders received
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training in the drug testing program procedures.
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THE DRUG TESTING PROCESS
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Random Drug Testing
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As of January 1, 1991, all sworn employees hired since
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1984, when drug testing of job applicants began, and all
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aircraft support personnel became subject to random drug
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testing. Employees hired prior to 1984 are also subject to
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random drug testing. Random drug testing of civilian employees
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in certain safety-sensitive classifications, such as arson
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investigations, communications, the forensic laboratory, and in
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the armed facilities security section, will also become
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mandatory in 1991. However, before an agency employee can be
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randomly tested, written authorization is obtained on a
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voluntary consent form. This form stipulates that the employee
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agrees to be drug tested no less than once and no more than
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twice over a 2-year period.
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Specific Selection Drug Testing
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In addition to a random drug testing policy, the committee
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also set a specific selection drug testing policy. Under this
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policy, drug testing is mandatory for the following groups of
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employees:
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* All sworn employee applicants
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* Employees eligible for promotion
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* Employees transferring into aircraft support
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* Drug enforcement/special investigations staff members
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* Special response team members and/or those involved in
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drug interdiction work.
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Drug testing is also required for any sworn employee upon
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documented, reasonable suspicion of illegal drug use. If an
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employee refuses to be tested for possible drug use, they are
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then subject to disciplinary action. In addition, should an
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employee be involved in an accident or critical incident, drug
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testing is available upon request.
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The Drug Test
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Every Monday, the post and section commanders coordinate
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the matching of employee names to individual identification
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numbers--not Social Security numbers. Only those employees
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subject to and available for random drug testing during a
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particular week are assigned identification numbers. Then, the
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identification numbers only are forwarded to the agency's
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personnel branch for entry into a computer system. The computer
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randomly selects a subset of the entered identification numbers,
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and any employee whose identification number matches one of the
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numbers that the computer selects will be drug tested within 5
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working days. The selected employees post or section commanders
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withholds notification of testing until the day of the test so
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that drug testing is not compromised and that it occurs in a
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timely and efficient manner.
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Drug testing is performed through urinalysis. Only
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Kentucky State Police Forensic Laboratory personnel and post or
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section commanders are authorized to administer the drug tests.
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At the time of the test, each employee is asked to complete a
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more-detailed voluntary consent form. This enhanced consent
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form: 1) Requests employee permission for a urine specimen to
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be collected and tested; 2) describes the list of drugs for
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which the specimen will be tested; 3) describes how the test
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results will be used and to whom they may be communicated; 4)
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delineates possible agency action if the test is positive; and
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5) informs the employee of the consequences of violating any
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testing procedure. The form also requests a list of any
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medication the employee has taken over the last 15 days.
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The employee is then handed a sealed, plastic specimen
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container with a built-in thermometer. The employee provides
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the urine specimen in a secured, private restroom. In the
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interest of employee privacy, there are no witnesses, and
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disrobing is not required. When the employee returns the filled
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specimen container to the drug testing personnel, it is
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immediately checked for temperature to ensure that the employee
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has provided an authentic sample. Next, in the presence of the
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employee, the specimen is divided into two containers. One of
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the samples is held as a control sample in case an employee
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would wish to verify positive results later with a laboratory of
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their choosing.
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Drug testing personnel then explain the chain-of-custody
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form to the employee. Once the employee verifies the
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information on this form, drug testing personnel seal the
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specimen containers with lids and with tamper-proof sealing
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tape. A label that identifies the specimens only by employee
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identification number is affixed to each container. The
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employee, after verifying that the identification number on the
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specimen containers matches the identification number on the
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list held by the post or section commander, signs off on this
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list. Afterward, drug testing personnel forward the
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chain-of-custody form and the specimen containers to the
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Kentucky State Police Forensic Laboratory.
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At the laboratory, each employee's specimen is checked for
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possible tampering, logged in, and processed. A test tube
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sample is also drawn from an original specimen and stored for
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future testing, if needed. Several test tube samples are
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batched together, of which approximately 20 percent will be
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control samples for quality assurance checks.
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Analysis
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Immunoassay tests are used to screen the samples. These
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tests serve to identify substances, such as proteins, through
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their ability to stimulate physical responses from the body's
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immune system. Each specimen is screened for marijuana,
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cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepine,
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and propoxyphene. It is also checked for the presence of other
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elements to ensure the authenticity of the urine specimen.
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The drug detection levels set in the agency's drug testing
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policy are as follows:
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* Marijuana--50 ng/ml
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* Cocaine--300 ng/ml
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* Opiates--300 ng/ml
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* Amphetamines--300 ng/ml
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* Benzodiazepine--300 ng/ml
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* Propoxyphene--300 ng/ml
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If the first screening of a particular specimen is positive,
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a more-complex and expensive chemical analysis, such as gas
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chromatography or mass spectrometry, is performed to confirm the
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initial results of the immunoassay screening. If this test is
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positive, the specimen is sent to an independent laboratory for
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further analysis. A second positive confirmation will trigger
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administrative and/or disciplinary action against the tested
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employee.
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Agency Response to Positive Test Results
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All test results are sent directly to the Kentucky State
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Police's Employee Assistance Program--the only place where an
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identification number can be correlated to an employee's name.
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From this point, a medical review officer, who is a physician
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employed on a contract basis, meets privately with the employee
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whose test results indicate unsanctioned drug use.
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If the medical review officer finds no legal reason for the
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positive test results, the physician notifies the Employee
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Assistance Program. The Employee Assistance Program then
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notifies the Internal Affairs Section, if the results concern a
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sworn employee, or the Legal Office, if the results concern a
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civilian employee. Internal Affairs or the Legal Office will
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then contact the employee. The commissioner, who is empowered
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to authorize an immediate nondisciplinary administrative leave
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for the employee in question, is also informed of
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"presumptive" positive test results.
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Any employee found to be involved in illegal drug use faces
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disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. However,
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for prescription drug misuse, the agency's emphasis is on
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employee rehabilitation only. All employees, regardless of the
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type of drug use violation, are required to make themselves
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available to the Employee Assistance Program if referred to the
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program by a supervisor. Employees may also be required to
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complete satisfactorily a drug abuse assistance or treatment
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program as a condition of continued employment.
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In an effort to direct employees to the best available drug
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abuse assistance or treatment programs, the Employee Assistance
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Program maintains an updated list of drug abuse treatment
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facilities nationwide.
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CONCLUSION
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The Kentucky State Police's drug testing policy is a
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product of its employees. It provides what is believed to be a
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total approach to the substance abuse issue, of which drug
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testing is but one component. The policy also emphasizes
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employee awareness/education programs; supervisor/manager
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training; prohibitions against the use, sale, possession or
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manufacture of illegal drugs; specific guidelines about the
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misuse of alcohol and prescription drugs; employee and family
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counseling through the Employee Assistance Program; and support
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for long-term rehabilitation. As of February 1991, 98% of all
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sworn employees have voluntarily submitted to drug testing. As
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a whole, 84.4% of both sworn and civilian personnel within the
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Kentucky State Police have been tested.
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It is the Kentucky State Police's belief that the general
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public has a right to expect a stricter accounting of law
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enforcement employees concerning possible illegal drug use than
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would routinely be expected of most government employees. Drug
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testing of law enforcement employees is a small step to take
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toward meeting that expectation. A law enforcement agency could
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not deliver a stronger message to the public it serves.
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