# Drug Testing



## Good for you

I need to know as as soon as possible what the drug policy is TODAY regarding Amtrak . I applied for a conductor trainer position and before I go for the physical. What are the requirements and do they drug test at the beginning of the physical?

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! I need to pass!


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## AmtrakBlue

Good for you said:


> I need to know as as soon as possible what the drug policy is TODAY regarding Amtrak . I applied for a conductor trainer position and before I go for the physical. What are the requirements and do they drug test at the beginning of the physical?
> 
> PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! I need to pass!


So, you're saying you do drugs, but you need to know if you need to stop just long enough to pass the drug test. Hope you don't get the job if that's the case.


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## BuffaloBoy

AmtrakBlue said:


> Good for you said:
> 
> 
> 
> I need to know as as soon as possible what the drug policy is TODAY regarding Amtrak . I applied for a conductor trainer position and before I go for the physical. What are the requirements and do they drug test at the beginning of the physical?
> 
> PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! I need to pass!
> 
> 
> 
> So, you're saying you do drugs, but you need to know if you need to stop just long enough to pass the drug test. Hope you don't get the job if that's the case.
Click to expand...

Ditto, what a fool!


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## CaptainOzone

They do the standard hair follicle drug test. If you used in the last 3-5 months, youre screwed.


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## Acela150

Good for you said:


> I need to know as as soon as possible what the drug policy is TODAY regarding Amtrak . I applied for a conductor trainer position and before I go for the physical. What are the requirements and do they drug test at the beginning of the physical?
> 
> PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! I need to pass!


Did you apply? Or get hired? If you applied, get in line with everyone else. If you got hired. Kiss any chance of ever holding a DOT regulated job goodbye. Amtrak must share any positive drug test with DOT, FRA, and it's put into a database that shows such a result. The bottom line is simple you test positive, you will never work for the railroad. They take urine and hair. Hair test will show 6 months.

And if you have used anything and applied I'm sorry but you DO NOT belong on any railroad.


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## Lonestar648

From some people I know who order the random drug tests and the new hire tests, some things show up even after 6 months of non use. If you have been using and applied, you have no business working where you could endanger the lives of other. Find a different line of work, but more and more companies are drug screening, so you may want to clear your system for a good year, then stay off the drugs.


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## Bob Dylan

Good advice to clean up first, and then if you want to apply, DON'T use prohibited substances at all if you want a career in railroading!


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## Railroad Bill

Much of our unemployment numbers are reinforced by those who cannot pass drug tests for employment. I have talked to many local industries and they all say they have plenty of jobs but the applicants either cannot pass the tests or just fail to show up to work on a regular basis. A sad story for the U.S. A Rocky Mountain High is a formula for disaster when trying to get a job.


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## Ryan

Perhaps one day we can get over the “war on some drugs” and make this something less of a problem.


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## Acela150

Ryan said:


> Perhaps one day we can get over the “war on some drugs” and make this something less of a problem.


To an extent I agree with you, but on the railroad. NO. I don't agree. You work in a safety sensitive job you can't be using meth, weed, crack, or whatever you choose. And I'm sure you agree with me.


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## Ryan

i Couldn’t care less about what you do on your own time. There’s no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as you’re fit for duty when the phone rings, it’s no care of mine.


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## Bob Dylan

Ryan said:


> i Couldnt care less about what you do on your own time. Theres no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as youre fit for duty when the phone rings, its no care of mine.


This! ( But IMO Random Drug testing needs to be Mandatory for Sensetive jobs like T&E Crews).


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## BCL

I frankly don't care if someone is drinking alcohol off the clock. However, Amtrak positions are often considered a safety sensitive and there's going to be a zero-tolerance policy for certain substances. Whether or not they're legal isn't really much of a concern.


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## Lonestar648

My daughter, who is a Charge Nurse, and her team have a rule of zero alcohol at least 48 hours before a shift, including "On Call" times. The hospital has zero tolerance towards drugs and DUI's. Any position where the public's safety is involved (RR, Air, Bus, Medical, etc.) should have a zero tolerance, there are no maybe's if the person has to handle a crisis or emergency. What someone does in their free time does matter when it affects the lives of other people.


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## Acela150

Ryan said:


> i Couldn’t care less about what you do on your own time. There’s no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as you’re fit for duty when the phone rings, it’s no care of mine.


Come on Ryan.. Their is a difference between Alcohol and a joint. I agree with you that drinking alcohol on your on time is whatever. If you blow a 0.0 if and when your selected fine. But if you come up positive for any drug use you have no business on any railroad. Whether you think you're fit for duty or not. Amtrak did have a program where you could mark off if you weren't fit for duty. But that program has been discontinued.



Bob Dylan said:


> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> 
> i Couldnt care less about what you do on your own time. Theres no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as youre fit for duty when the phone rings, its no care of mine.
> 
> 
> 
> This! ( But IMO Random Drug testing needs to be Mandatory for Sensetive jobs like T&E Crews).
Click to expand...

Random testing is mandatory.


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## SarahZ

Acela150 said:


> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> 
> i Couldn’t care less about what you do on your own time. There’s no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as you’re fit for duty when the phone rings, it’s no care of mine.
> 
> 
> 
> Come on Ryan.. Their is a difference between Alcohol and a joint.
Click to expand...

No, there isn't. A joint's effects wear off within a couplefew hours, just like alcohol. Obviously, it depends on body composition, frequency of usage, blah blah blah.

The difference is that you can't test for alcohol a few weeks later. Someone could be a binge drinker, and the railroad would have no way of knowing unless they showed up for work drunk.


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## MattW

Does anyone know if it's true that marijuana can show up on a test if the tested person was just around someone who was smoking it?

Let's give the OP the benefit of the doubt in a hypothetical here: OP doesn't do drugs at all. His brother smokes it every night. Could the OP show a positive drug test from just being around his/her brother?

I also ask this partially from a personal level. I don't think I'm able to smell marijuana, so I wouldn't necessarily know it's being smoked around me so I would know to move away. I know this because multiple times while walking around the city with my friends, they'll say they smell someone smoking the stuff, but I've never smelled anything different (none of my friends smoke either, I keep good clean company). I was also never in one of those D.A.R.E. classes where the officer lights the sample pellet (I saw this on Dragnet, I don't actually know if they still did this when I would have gone through).


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## SarahZ

MattW said:


> Does anyone know if it's true that marijuana can show up on a test if the tested person was just around someone who was smoking it?
> 
> Let's give the OP the benefit of the doubt in a hypothetical here: OP doesn't do drugs at all. His brother smokes it every night. Could the OP show a positive drug test from just being around his/her brother?


No. My ex-boyfriend smoked regularly, and we lived together for four years. I never had a drug test come back positive.

There have been multiple research studies performed, as this becomes an increasing concern as more and more states legalize marijuana. People, like you, are concerned about the secondhand smoke affecting their drug tests.

The studies have shown, time and time again, that while some THC may be present in urine and hair samples, the level is nowhere near the tests' "failure" rate.

As far as the smell is concerned: to me, it smells like skunk (but sharper) mixed with sort of an acrid, burning leaves scent.


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## Ryan

SarahZ said:


> Acela150 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> 
> i Couldn’t care less about what you do on your own time. There’s no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as you’re fit for duty when the phone rings, it’s no care of mine.
> 
> 
> 
> Come on Ryan.. Their is a difference between Alcohol and a joint.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No, there isn't. A joint's effects wear off within a couplefew hours, just like alcohol. Obviously, it depends on body composition, frequency of usage, blah blah blah.
> 
> The difference is that you can't test for alcohol a few weeks later. Someone could be a binge drinker, and the railroad would have no way of knowing unless they showed up for work drunk.
Click to expand...

Sarah said it better than I could. There is no functional difference between to two.

And I though that it went without saying that “on call” times aren’t”your own time”, but apparently some people do need it spelled out. If you’re in a duty status where you can be recalled at a moment’s notice, then you need to be fit for duty. But any time you are free to crack open a beer, you should be free to light one up as well.


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## BCL

Ryan said:


> SarahZ said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Acela150 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> 
> i Couldn’t care less about what you do on your own time. There’s no difference between going home and having a beer and smoking a joint. As long as you’re fit for duty when the phone rings, it’s no care of mine.
> 
> 
> 
> Come on Ryan.. Their is a difference between Alcohol and a joint.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No, there isn't. A joint's effects wear off within a couplefew hours, just like alcohol. Obviously, it depends on body composition, frequency of usage, blah blah blah.
> 
> The difference is that you can't test for alcohol a few weeks later. Someone could be a binge drinker, and the railroad would have no way of knowing unless they showed up for work drunk.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Sarah said it better than I could. There is no functional difference between to two.
> 
> And I though that it went without saying that “on call” times aren’t”your own time”, but apparently some people do need it spelled out. If you’re in a duty status where you can be recalled at a moment’s notice, then you need to be fit for duty. But any time you are free to crack open a beer, you should be free to light one up as well.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not as a functional difference, but from a regulatory standpoint it's definitely different. It's still a federal Schedule I drug and not allowed at any time by the Dept of Transportation for anyone in a safety sensitive position. Someone could even go overseas and smoke where it's legal, but that's clearly a violation of DOT regulations for a transportation worker to do so.

I'm not mentioning this regarding my approval of smoking pot, but in terms of the testing protocol one would have to be really stupid to smoke it knowing that it's persistent in the body.


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## Ryan

I also thought that it went without saying that I was only talking about the physical effects of the two drugs, and that it was obvious that the drugs are treated differently from a legal perspective (hence the “war on some drugs”), but obviously not.


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## PRR 60

If anyone wants to continue this conversation, a new topic can be started in the Lounge.


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