STEROID
03-28-2012, 12:38 AM
Personnel board weighs steroid testing
The city’s Personnel Board discussed a proposal March 19 that would remove anabolic steroids from the list of illegal substances for which Hendersonville tests all employees.
Hendersonville began testing for illegal steroids about four years ago when several Metro Nashville police officers and one Hendersonville officer were found to have been involved in an illegal steroid ring in Middle Tennessee at the time.
Kaye Palmer, the city’s human resources manager, said during the meeting March 19 that many city department heads were in favor of removing the anabolic steroid provision of the city’s drug testing policy, citing the time it takes to get the test results back, as well as the cost.
“When this was implemented, a $45 drug screen, that had a turn-around time of 2-3 days, turned into a $125 test with a 10-14 day turn-around because nobody here does them – we have to send them to a lab in Virginia,” Palmer said. “The few years we’ve been doing them, we’ve never had anybody test positive.”
Palmer said the city has searched for another vendor/lab to administer the tests that could do the tests in a more timely/cost-effective manner, but to no avail. Currently, all city employees are tested for anabolic steroids when they take their pre-employment drug screens, and police and fire personnel are randomly tested throughout the year.
Palmer also noted both Hendersonville Fire Chief Jamie Steele and Police Chief Mickey Miller were in favor of eliminating illegal steroid testing from the city’s policy.
“I guess they don’t feel the problem exists, and I just surveyed some other cities in Tennessee, and out of the 20 cities I surveyed, we are one of two that are actually testing for steroids,” Palmer said.
She said Cleveland, Tenn. is the only other city (of those she surveyed) that test for anabolic steroids, and that they only test for them randomly.
Change resisted
During discussion of the proposed change, Personnel Board member John Prentiss expressed reluctance to remove anabolic steroid testing from the city’s drug testing policy.
“The big thing is, that stuff will make you crazy. We don’t need guys to become violent, so I’ve got an issue with pulling that out,” Prentiss said .
He suggested the city’s drug testing policy could allow employees to begin work and be on city payroll, subject to the test results; though Palmer said that would not be possible because of a former Parks Department employee who had been allowed to begin work before the city received his or her test results. That employee’s drug screen came back positive for marijuana.
“The mayor said, ‘We’re never doing that again,’ so it’s that delay of putting someone to work (that’s the issue),” Palmer said. “They’re either going to be cleared to go to work, or they’re not going to work.”
“It seems like a lot of money and a lot of time for a problem that hasn’t even presented itself,” Personnel Board Chairman Ed Lake said.
Though Palmer did not have an exact figure on how much the city spends on such testing per year, board member Tim Brewer estimated the city was spending about $7,500 a year on the testing, saying, “I would prefer to be the city that prevented something, rather than the city that didn’t – that’s money well-spent.”
Prentiss moved that the board put the proposal on hold before making a recommendation, pending comments from both Steele and Miller on why they thought the measure should be eliminated.
The Personnel Board is a recommending body, and all recommendations to changes in the city’s personnel policies must be approved by the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Steele said he and Miller had both notified the Personnel Board that they were okay with eliminating anabolic steroid testing from the city’s drug testing policy.
The city’s Personnel Board discussed a proposal March 19 that would remove anabolic steroids from the list of illegal substances for which Hendersonville tests all employees.
Hendersonville began testing for illegal steroids about four years ago when several Metro Nashville police officers and one Hendersonville officer were found to have been involved in an illegal steroid ring in Middle Tennessee at the time.
Kaye Palmer, the city’s human resources manager, said during the meeting March 19 that many city department heads were in favor of removing the anabolic steroid provision of the city’s drug testing policy, citing the time it takes to get the test results back, as well as the cost.
“When this was implemented, a $45 drug screen, that had a turn-around time of 2-3 days, turned into a $125 test with a 10-14 day turn-around because nobody here does them – we have to send them to a lab in Virginia,” Palmer said. “The few years we’ve been doing them, we’ve never had anybody test positive.”
Palmer said the city has searched for another vendor/lab to administer the tests that could do the tests in a more timely/cost-effective manner, but to no avail. Currently, all city employees are tested for anabolic steroids when they take their pre-employment drug screens, and police and fire personnel are randomly tested throughout the year.
Palmer also noted both Hendersonville Fire Chief Jamie Steele and Police Chief Mickey Miller were in favor of eliminating illegal steroid testing from the city’s policy.
“I guess they don’t feel the problem exists, and I just surveyed some other cities in Tennessee, and out of the 20 cities I surveyed, we are one of two that are actually testing for steroids,” Palmer said.
She said Cleveland, Tenn. is the only other city (of those she surveyed) that test for anabolic steroids, and that they only test for them randomly.
Change resisted
During discussion of the proposed change, Personnel Board member John Prentiss expressed reluctance to remove anabolic steroid testing from the city’s drug testing policy.
“The big thing is, that stuff will make you crazy. We don’t need guys to become violent, so I’ve got an issue with pulling that out,” Prentiss said .
He suggested the city’s drug testing policy could allow employees to begin work and be on city payroll, subject to the test results; though Palmer said that would not be possible because of a former Parks Department employee who had been allowed to begin work before the city received his or her test results. That employee’s drug screen came back positive for marijuana.
“The mayor said, ‘We’re never doing that again,’ so it’s that delay of putting someone to work (that’s the issue),” Palmer said. “They’re either going to be cleared to go to work, or they’re not going to work.”
“It seems like a lot of money and a lot of time for a problem that hasn’t even presented itself,” Personnel Board Chairman Ed Lake said.
Though Palmer did not have an exact figure on how much the city spends on such testing per year, board member Tim Brewer estimated the city was spending about $7,500 a year on the testing, saying, “I would prefer to be the city that prevented something, rather than the city that didn’t – that’s money well-spent.”
Prentiss moved that the board put the proposal on hold before making a recommendation, pending comments from both Steele and Miller on why they thought the measure should be eliminated.
The Personnel Board is a recommending body, and all recommendations to changes in the city’s personnel policies must be approved by the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Steele said he and Miller had both notified the Personnel Board that they were okay with eliminating anabolic steroid testing from the city’s drug testing policy.