Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2000
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Copyright: News Limited 2000
Contact:  http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/
Author: Lyndon Smith

THE INNOCENT HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE

Salvation Army major Brian Watters is being disingenuous when he says he is
"more than a little surprised at the almost hysterical reaction ... that a
drug-free status should be a requirement for employment in the public
sector".

No one is suggesting that people at work should be under the influence of
drugs. The problem is with the idea that people must now prove they are not
guilty of being under the influence of a drug.

This entirely reverses the assumption that people are innocent of a crime
until proven guilty, a situation designed to keep people free from
persecution. With drug testing people are now required to prove they are
innocent and the burden of proof has shifted in the wrong direction.

We are on a slippery slope once we start removing basic rights and
protections in order to help the so-called war against drugs.

Lyndon Smith,
Cremorne
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