Answer:
No, I did not work with an Organization that had a zero-tolerance drug policy. However, I do feel that my employer should do something to dissuade the employees from doing drugs at the workplace. For this, I have already set an example in my Organization by personally handling a case.
In my Organization, a team member who was also a subordinate of mine, did drugs. He was addicted to Marijuana. I realized, as a Boss, that it is rather an ethical dilemma itself to balance the need for safe workplace in an Organization with that of the employee’s rights to privacy. Hence accordingly, few general steps were taken by me in order to spread a deliberate awareness within an Organization about the consumption of Marijuana and its ill-effects, without my subordinate being let know that I got inspired to take these steps basically to demotivate him for doing drugs without actually directly invading his privacy.
Although the side-effects or benefits derived from consuming Marijuana was indeed a very debatable topic, but it is a known fact that people are indeed anxious to find the positive effects of Marijuana only to justify their consumption for the same and so would have this subordinate of mine. Further, studies also suggest that males have a tendency to fall for Marijuana more as compared to the females due to the illusive thought of getting them over-represented in a group, which may not necessarily be the case. As a matter of fact, a rationale drawn behind how to interact in a group, even without the consumption of Marijuana, shall make a person, be it a teen or an adult, to have an impression of being a person with substance. I made an effort with my team to highlight the fact that Marijuana may just help to temporarily get over the issues faced in the real-life scenario, especially by the adults, without really meting them with. Alcohols do cause harm to the health but a relative comparison is rather a folly on the part of a person who may simply fail to realize that in a long run, an illegal drug like Marijuana, can only cause an irrecoverable damage to the brains in the pretext of giving a better life. Therefore, indeed the consumption of Marijuana is a bane for all human beings and to their social lives which I decided, could be emphasized by the Organization through convening of seminars at the work place, along with applying various forms of communications such as Notice boards, E-mails, Hoardings within the office premises, to reach out to the employees in more assertive way. In this manner, my subordinate would have also got intimated about the side-effects of Marijuana without my direct intervention to his private life.
Further, I got in touch with my senior to make at least the Company policy strict enough to prevent consumption of any kind of drugs or alcohols within the working hours of the Organization. In a way, that would have discouraged my subordinate to stop consuming Marijuana during the work hours while at home, the same could have been expected by his family. So that would have taken care of his exercising of control over drugs. This will ensure efficiency at work to quite some extent without unreasonable issues pertaining to the Job performance. The Company code of ethics could be in force, I thought, that would act in the best interest of the employees as a whole as well, without letting me land in the dilemma of bothering them personally or letting them get into the field of self-destruction and addiction. Prohibition of Marijuana within the Organization’s limits could be imposed, irrespective of the fact whether the employee’s consume the same in their personal life, away from their work places or not. In this way, the right of privacy would be taken care of just like any other rights of privacy pertaining to the employee’s personal life and at the same time, maintaining a code of decorum within the work premises in order to ensure orderliness of the activities and achievements of job goals.
The above method could be adopted by the HR Professionals and Line managers to better educate themselves about the impact of marijuana use on workers’ compensation.