AJ Allmendinger suspended for failing drug test.

[Scott Liggett]

You can bet after all the crap with Mayfield that NASCAR has their ducks in a row on this one. Read an article that says it takes their testing co. 5 days and they knew mid-day Saturday.

About how long the company that does our random drug tests take too.

Peewee, I've seen a few false positives because of prescription meds and over the counter stuff. But, they have improved those occurences many times over. That's why I wanted to wait until I was sure. I'm betting Penske and Allmendinger will use the back up sample if they feel it's a false positive. If he fails that, he may be out indefinitely.

[Brian Lohnes]

Whenever we had a guy popped on a test the first thing that happened was the MRO contacting them and asking about perscriptions, etc. Guys who were on meds for ADHD or other stuff would fax them a copy of their perscription and be done with it. That wasn't an option when the perscription drug they were caught for was cocaine, but in the 12 years I spent overseeing fleet drivers, I never lost a single guy who was on real medication and could prove it.

[Caveman Tony]

This all makes me wonder how many drivers are takin' something to help concentration... hmm... legal, but not necessarily angel-pure-as-the-driven-snow.

When do we find out what the substance was that AJ may/may not have been on? And whether he ate a poppy-seed bagel that morning?

[yellomalibu]

Who hasn't heard of the poppy seed deal causing false positives?
- that isn't a rhetorical question, I would really like to know if people actually haven't heard about that; consider it a mini poll that only the ones who haven't heard about it can answer.

In the military, we were warned of the possibility, so we simply avoided poppy seeds.

I have, however, heard first hand of a person who failed a drug test for pot because of second hand smoke. He had a good union job and still swears that he did not smoke any, but was around people who did. Luckily for him, he only received a suspension.

[Monk]

I've had two false positives from medical tests over the years.

Doc always got a second opinion and they were proved wrong (one PSA test).

My two cents.........I'd apply the same logic here....get a second opinion.

[Barry Donovan]

this subject sucks..for innocent people.

the second hand smoke, I had a troubled younger brother..and he was living with me.
I even brought it up at work, "my brother is a pothead". That converastion saved my career attempt in the military.

there is a means to go into bad thoughts of integrity by testers or any doctor. I remember once some lung test.. they had me blow into this tube as hard as I could, and was coming up just short of healthy. WTF? I could run for miles.

as it turns out, they had my height typed in as well over 7 feet, and I still met the line drawn being five foot 9.

people stepping up for a chance that carries integrity need to be real safe. The "real" world cares less.

Homophobia can end a career by a fake means "cuz fags are fake" and protected within. <- that is the worst stories EVER.

I wonder about alot of organizations. I wonlt be attempting much of anything again... it does not meet my integrity? bye bye. You lost A MAN.

[OldMachinist]

I still want drug testing instituted for anyone on public assistance.

[oletrux4evr]

I still want drug testing instituted for anyone on public assistance.

Amen!

[pdub]

Okay, false positives. But I've never seen one. Everybody from my experience was always.....please let me into the drug rehab program and please don't fire me... and so they went with the company's blessings. And a lot of great recoveries came from it. The day of reckoning, the day it all became real to them....this versus that.

I guess my limited slant on the whole thing is that I've never seen a false positive.

[Brian Lohnes]

Where I was at, you couldn't get into the rehab program if you failed a test. If you called the "help line" 3 seconds before the test and said you had a drug problem you'd get help. If you took the test and failed your ass was grass.

I remember the day my wife and I bought our house, I was signing the papers at the lawyer's office and my asshole boss was calling me incessantly to tell me one of my guys had failed a test and was let go. Once I asked him WTF I was supposed to do about that sitting in the lawyer's office, he kind of got the hint. I bailed from that job a few months later.

[thedodgeboys]

I heard today AJ was also going through a divorce and has been depressed for a few months.

Could be he played a little to hard one night???

[pdub]

Where I was at, you couldn't get into the rehab program if you failed a test. If you called the "help line" 3 seconds before the test and said you had a drug problem you'd get help. If you took the test and failed your ass was grass.

I remember the day my wife and I bought our house, I was signing the papers at the lawyer's office and my asshole boss was calling me incessantly to tell me one of my guys had failed a test and was let go. Once I asked him WTF I was supposed to do about that sitting in the lawyer's office, he kind of got the hint. I bailed from that job a few months later.

We're a bit more benevolent than that. A probationary employee, somebody relatively new? Gone.

But a 20+ year employee, a good employee the whole time? Let's work this out.

That's what I meant when I said you'd never, ever suspect who tests positive. It's amazing at times.

[Brian Lohnes]

I can't say I have ever been surprised by a failure but it was a different world. This was at a bottled water delivery company. Home and office stuff. We had a couple of 25-30 year guys who were as good and efficient was humanly possible. They didn't cut corners or anything, but they also didn't waste a breath or a step during the day.

When guys started to vastly out perform them on a day to day basis, it was a big flag and I had it happen 5 times in 6 years at that company and 4 guys failed the test. The fifth? He threatened to kill me when I told him he had to get tested and was escorted out of the place before peeing in the cup. I'm thinking it would have been a 5 for 5 situation had he tried it.

[Monk]

I don't mind taking a urine test......if I could have a few
days to study for it.

[pdub]

So, they're out there. They sure are, in EVERY workplace.

There. My only misguided point in all of it.