Privacy rights and Dignity
- A Truck Driver's letter to his elected officials:
I am a Truck Driver and according to the law provided by the DOT (which effects every city, county, state, and international area on the North American Continent... yes your area too), I may be subject to have a drug test where the testing facility is required by law to have “direct observation of my genitalia area.” It is very hard to believe, so I have provided the link to the law, for your convenience:
DOT 49 CFR Part 40 Subpart D 40.67
( http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/NEW_DOCS/subpart_e/Revised_40_67_20080625.pdf ).
I believe we could test for drugs in a more dignified manner. No workplace would ever allow this to happen, as it would be far beyond sexual harassment. I imagine this law came about because some people being tested were using the “Whizzinator” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whizzinator ) that was filled with synthetic urine.
I would like to see alternative methods for drug testing, other than “direct observation of my private parts”, as a solution to a few who do not obey the law. One suggestion would be to submit hair samples. Another suggestion would be to require a blood sample. Both ideas provide dignity, but we would need some guarantees on securing our information (Privacy).
As we move forward to shape our future government which includes the World, we need to start here and now and require “Dignity” to be a big part of how the public should have it's privacy protected.
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