Should we start doing medical research on pregnant women? In the wake of the H1N1 epidemic, in which pregnant women had a disproportionately higher risk of death, the question of including pregnant women in clinical trials has begun to be tentatively breached. [more inside]
posted by KathrynT on Jun 21, 2010 - 22 comments

Joseph Casias recently decided, after 10 years, to alleviate the pain of his sinus cancer with medical marijuana--which is legal with a doctor's recommendation in Michigan. A commended Wal-Mart employee for five years, Casias was promptly fired by the company after failing a drug test. Now, Wal-Mart is working to deny Casias unemployment benefits.
posted by mrgrimm on Mar 18, 2010 - 83 comments

That BBC article about AIDS and NYC? Debunked. This one's for schroedinger, who posted the original BBC story about the documentary accusing the NYC Association for Children’s Services of using children in foster care for drug testing experiments without parental consent on MeFi here. Here's an intelligent and well thought out rebuttal from blogger respectfulofotters to the points made (and sources used by,) the documentary.
posted by zarq on Dec 3, 2004 - 41 comments

Ricky Quits Football to Smoke Dope
Ricky Williams knew he'd failed a third drug test and retired from football before his coach found out.
Says Ricky, "I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test," he told the Herald. "I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football."
Williams said he's not addicted to marijuana. And I'm sure he can quit anytime he wants to but maybe he got confused and quit his profession instead of his "hobby"?
Is this the first time a star athlete's quit because he wants to hang out and smoke dope?
posted by fenriq on Jul 29, 2004 - 81 comments

Hello Gattaca : "The federal government is planning to overhaul its employee drug testing program to include scrutiny of workers' hair, saliva and sweat, a shift that could spur more businesses to revise screening for millions of their own workers."
posted by troutfishing on Jan 16, 2004 - 31 comments

New 100m world record
"Once again, the 100m record holder is truly the fastest man on earth"
posted by daveg on Sep 15, 2002 - 19 comments

“Students, Thomas says, endanger themselves. And that is enough for the court to approve the program. It's enough to force every single American to also submit to suspicionless drug-testing, but Thomas neglects to mention this." The Justices are mostly old and frail and wield massive power. They should be tested for their "protection" and so the American public can be sure they are "physically fit, and have unimpeachable integrity and judgment."
posted by raaka on Jul 3, 2002 - 15 comments

Court gives the go-ahead on random drug testing for non-athlete students. "Given the nationwide epidemic of drug use, and the evidence of increased drug use in Tecumseh schools, it was entirely reasonable for the school district to enact this particular drug testing policy," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the decision. Drug tests which really only target marijuana use (alcohol, cocaine, opiates leave the body shortly after use) can now be randomly given to students involved in extra-curricular activities. Is this a further step in the "my anti-drug" campaign? Is debate or drama club YOUR anti-drug? By denying student drug users the privilege of participating in activities, aren't we just marginalizing them further and making the problem worse? What will it be? Drugs or getting involved?
posted by Hammerikaner on Jun 27, 2002 - 58 comments

Medical Records Confidentiality - An End to Privacy? "The Bush Administration yesterday proposed changing some of the federal rules designed to protect the confidentiality of Americans' medical records, including the ability of patients to decide in advance who should be able to use their personal health information."

The Day After 9-11, the debate started. "People would probably not protest FBI snooping so much if we did not need to guard our privacy so tightly, if we did not have to worry about medical records being used against us by employers or insurance companies ... (More info: EFF: Privacy - Medical & Psychiatric Records and Drug Testing, Privacy2000.org, The Search and Seizure of Electronic Information.)

You have ONE MONTH to give your comments on Medical Records Confidentiality. Congressional approval is not required.
posted by sheauga on Mar 22, 2002 - 12 comments

Who needs a Whizzinator? Apparently they aren't fooling parole officers. What happened to the good old herbal tea workaround?
posted by suprfli on May 22, 2001 - 24 comments