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The right to not be around drugs??
Sorry for the ineloquent subject/title. Anyway, I'm going to start out by saying I don't want this to turn into a debate. I just want my question answered. :)
So, possession of marijuana is illegal where I live (unless you have a license or whatever). And I haaaaaaaaate drugs, alcohol, things of that nature. Those things make me extremely uncomfortable. Now don't get me wrong, people have the right to smoke that stupid crap, but in a state where it's LEGAL. Here where I live, it's illegal, end of story. Well, I work at a grocery store, and let's just say some of my coworkers don't make the best of decisions... Sometimes, they come to work high. At it makes me so sad, mad, and anxious to be around that. I get SO uncomfortable. I think I have a right to not want to be around that. It's different if I'm at a party or something. If someone brings out the booze for us minors or people start blazing up, I can leave. But I can't do that at work. If I walked off the job, I'd be fired. I have to work close by these people, too.
I'm not making plans to sue or anything like that. And whether or not I should tell my supervisor isn't the concern. I was just wondering, because a friend and I were talking about this, and I said "When they come to work high, it takes away my choice to want to be around that crap or not. It infringes on my rights." Well, he goes "It only infringes on your rights when it's harming you. They're not harming you, so you can suck it up." I think that's bogus. My argument is, what about laws against sexual harassment or religious discrimination? If someone says "HEY, nice tits, baby! -Motor boat noises- ;)" that's considered sexual harassment, and they can get fired for that. That would violate my right to an unoffensive/non-hostile work environment. Same with drugs, I think. They're illegal, and they make me uncomfortable, and offend me. I choose to stay away from them. By being forced to work with those people, it takes away my right to choose.
What do you think? Do I have the right to choose to not be around that crap? Or is my friend right, they're not harming me, so my rights are not being infringed? Thanks for reading!
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Do not do the drugs...because one your friend isnt a good friend no matter how long yall have known eachother if he is influencing you to do drugs and two all drugs harm you and lead you to premature death,cancer,breathing problems,heart diseases and much more so all i gotta say is find some new friends.
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Hmm.
Intoxication on the job is not illegal the way religious discrimination or sexual harassment is.
And to be honest, to a degree your friend is right. Your discomfort is kind of your problem.
That said, it is a work environment. This isn't infringing on a right, but it may well be violating company policy and there would be nothing wrong with you trying to address it.
Moreover, if there are any safety concerns or you have to pick up stoned workers slack, there is nothing wrong with addressing that either. But if it's not affecting their work or yours (outside of you just not liking it) it isn't infringing on your rights. You don't actually have a right to an unoffensive work environment and this doesn't qualify as a hostile one. What you do have a right to is the protection of protected statuses, like religious or gender or sexual orientation based discrimination. That's not what this is.
In other words go read Cardigan's response like five times and ignore adviceman's. Cardigan hit it right on the nose.
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Your friend is very wrong. Someone who comes to work high is potentially harming you and anyone else that may be in proximity to where he is working. Then there is how that person got to work. If they are old enough to drive they were a menace to themselves and others on the road. If they rode a bicycle to work they could in their drug induced haze cause an auto accident, be hurt or killed themselves. Even walking to work they could in a drug induced haze step off the curb at the wrong time causing cars to have an accident trying not to hit him/her.
Just in the one paragraph above I sited three incidents in which their drug use could cause harm and they have not yet reached work.
You work in a grocery store. Grocery stores appear to be safe environments for the general public. They should be if the people working there are working in a safe manner and are not high on drugs or alcohol.
When I visit my local supermarket they are always stocking shelves. Stocking carts are in the aisles or being moved about the store. Pallet jacks are being moved about. Displays are being built. If the people doing this work are high then the patrons are at risk as well as fellow employees.
As a fellow employee and the patrons of your grocery store, you all have the right to be as safe as the store managers can make it. If you know a fellow employee is working unsafe or is high on drugs or alcohol you owe it to yourself, your fellow employees and the public to report that person to the manger.
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You're right that your workplace should be free from harassment and discrimination, and if drug use is causing any of that behavior, then you'd be right to be concerned.
There's no right, however, not to be offended by what people do in their private lives. Illegality isn't everything, at one time it was illegal for Blacks to use the same facilities as Whites, and that wasn't justifiable by reason of another's personal discomfort or offense of sharing space with a person of another race. If you're old enough to work, homosexuality was illegal in some states in your lifetime (until Lawrence v. Texas, 2003), and homosexuality still makes many people uncomfortable or offended, but there's definitely no such thing as a right not to be offended. In fact, the first amendment protects free speech, which is most important when it is an unpopular statement that some people won't like. We protect some offensive things because we value liberty and difference.
You're right that free speech stops at sexual harassment in the workplace. You shouldn't feel objectified or abused, and I'm glad you're standing up for that. But those would be things actively done to you. Unless they're operating more dangerous machinery than a cash register high, they're not endangering you. They're coming to work high, not blazing up in front of you, so you're not being exposed to smoke or the drug itself. I think it's admirable that you want to stay drug-free, I'm sure you have a good head on your shoulders. I would just caution you from judging others by one aspect of what they do and using language that rejects any of your coworkers' value entirely, "By being forced to work with those people" could be considered more hostile and prejudicial toward them than their drug use is actively being hostile to you. "Being a pothead" isn't actually a crime, status crimes are unconstitutional (Robinson v. California). If they were dealing or possessing on the jobsite, or doing dangerous things under the influence while at work, then they would be exposing you to criminal activity, and although there's no right not to witness crimes, they're not even forcing you to be around crime at work unless they are doing those specific things at work.
In life and work, you'll have to be around all kinds of people from all walks of life. Thank God, because the biggest lessons are learned from the people we would never choose. It's fine to hate the sin, but try to love and understand the sinner.
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I don't understand why it makes you so anxious and mad. You said they come to work high, well they aren't physically smoking it near you so technically they aren't harming you. For example if someone just finished a cigarette, which IS legal and they came to work and you didn't like the smell of cigarette that lingered on them, there is nothing you could really do. Same with this scenario. If they just show up high then they aren't harming you but could most certainly losetheir job. I personally think your friend is right. You do have the right to choose not to be around it by simply quitting your job which I can imagine isn't an option. The law is tricky and so mant loopholes. But seriously I'm sure you can stick it out. :)
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