FYI re officer training:
Drug Influence - 11550 H&S
Course Description- This 36-hour course is specifically designed for all law enforcement officers. It will familiarize the officer with the major drugs of abuse, user identification, and enforcement of applicable laws pertaining to the arrest and conviction of narcotic abusers.
Who Should Attend- All law enforcement personnel assigned to patrol, general or narcotic investigations.
Course Objectives- To provide the students with an understanding of sources, distribution, packaging and use of the most common drugs of abuse; to enable students to identify the symptoms of persons under the influence of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, PCP, alcohol, various Rave & Club Drugs; and properly articulate a subject's condition in order to successfully prosecute under Section 11550 of the California Controlled Substance Act (Division 10, Health & Safety Code).
Course Outline
Drug and User Identification
Opiates
Stimulants
Hallucinogens
Marijuana
Applicable Law, Health & Safety Code
Clandestine Laboratory
Professional Case Investigations
Developing Expert Testimony
Medical Aspects of Addiction and Abuse
Seven Step Drug Influence Testing Process
Alcohol Intoxication Workshop
I should add there is also a DAR (Drug and Alcohol Recogntion) class as well as other training. Most officers are trained and anyone with a good nose and can usually smell MJ, giving s/he Probable Cause to search and conduct a field sobrity test.
In New Mexico the employer is allowed to require a mandatory drug/alcohol test immediately following any work comp incident. And if any controlled substance is found in the body, and there is a written policy prohibiting such substances on the job, the person's workers compensation can be reduced.
As marijuana stays in the body for days, week, even up to a month, there is no way to know whether the employee was high at the time of the accident or whether he smoked a joint or two at a party two weeks earlier. So a zero tolerance policy is not only warranted, but considered prudent especially in occupations in which quick reflexes/responses make the difference between avoiding bad accidents or getting hurt or killed.
It's been years since my last training (I've been retired since 2005) but the knowledge then was that only chronic (daily) smokers would test positive for THC after a 30-days abstinence.
Urine tests for THC are quick, easy and reliable. A field sobriety test failed provides probable cause for an office to detain and test a driver. CA law requires a driver to submit to testing (though if 19 passes it will require modification to include urine testing as the breathalyzer would not be able to measure THC presence).
I don't think you're 'hearing' what I'm 'saying' here.
You can test for the LEVEL of alcohol in the blood and have a pretty good chance to determine whether the person is impaired by the level of alcohol in the blood.
There is no way to know whether the THC present in the body of the tested person was acquired a few minutes ago or weeks ago. And THAT is why any employer should be allowed to instigate and enforce a zero tolerance for the presence of ANY THC in the body and if it is detected, the person can be fired on the spot.