Carnival employee Drug Testing is a reality.

[Thomas Hoey]

Check out the story under breaking news. The first of the large ride companies on the East Coast will implement drug testing this season. The owner indicates the "the old ways are over"

Are the old ways, over?

[Flowergirl]

Drug testing began at larger midwestern shows at least 5 years ago. Some earlier than that. When Mid-America shows was started, the new owner drug tested the entire crew of the show he bought, and 1/3 of them were let go.

[babyburke]

Drug tesing on ride boys......sounds like the end of the world as we know it!
I'm sorry we cannot go in cognito, recreate how we choose and roll on to the next town.
Why must every sow's ear be turned into a silk purse.
babyburke

[Zack Panacek]

Personally, being on the owner side, I understand that "it is what it is" but in order to try and minimize the number of positive marijuana tests you have to give your help incentives to quit smoking. In no way shape or form should any type of narcotic be tolerated but dope is dope and lets face it, you can rarely rarely find an employee that doesn't toke!

You have to have an incentive to for the employee to stop. One of the incentives I plan on trying this year with my new role is offering help getting licenses straightened out in return for negative testing. Not only would this benefit the employees overall chances of future jobs with other companies, it also benefits him in his pocket while he still works for me. He drives, he gets more. We all know everyone needs drivers! So you see I also benefit in two ways as well. I have a cleaner workforce and I have more LEGAL drivers to help move the show.... Please tell me what you think. I'm the young kid here so I have some different ideas on things.

[Zack Panacek]

I am just going to reiterate what you said because it cannot be said enough. DO NOT TOLERATE ANY TYPE OF NARCOTIC! The incidents that happen as a result of these employees give us all a bad name and a negative public persona!

[Zack Panacek]

Unfortunately...... To an extent we DO have to control what they do in their off time. Because they live in bunkhouses and on the grounds of the various Fairs and Festivals, their actions influence the way fair board's and towns people look at us as a whole. Everyone has the right to privacy but when it comes to the drug policy it matters. It is the same if you work for a factory in town. They random drug test and that is essentially controlling, to an extent, what the employee is doing in their off time.

[Ron Krull]

is anybody hiring? good work exp

[Zack Panacek]

Are you asking me directly? or are you asking everyone here in general? Anyway.. to answer your question.

When we hire our employees we give them a run down of our rules. If they do not agree with them they have the choice to leave. Our rules are simple. If we close at 11 "quiet" time is 2A.M. if we are on a setup "quiet" time is 12A.M. Let me explain quiet time. Quiet Time means all the loud radios get turned down. And if you are being belligerent get in the bunk. This rule is welcomed by our whole crew. They like it, in fact they are the ones that usually enforce it. Many times I have woken up and been told by a supervisor they had to "put someone to bed." Anyway..... The moral of the story is we tell them what we expect of them up front. They have a choice, and our experience has been that it works. I don't know how it works on other shows but on ours... The deal you make when you get hired is the deal all the way until the end of the season. No change except if it is for the better.

Remember the key point here..... The employees know ahead of time so it is ultimately their choice. We are not making anyone do anything they did not agree to.

[doller bill]

I HAVE BEEN IN SHOW BUSSINESS 25 YRS SEEN POT ACID ALL OF IT BUT WHEN GUYS ARE ASKED TO WORK 15 HR DAYS 7 DAYS A WEEK DOING SOMETHING TO KEEP U UP IS INEVITABLE . AND WORKING 5 STATE FAIRS A SEASON WILL WARE ANYONE OUT. BUT ITS NOT WHAT YOU DO ITS HOW U DO IT. OF COURSE IAM TALKING ABOUT BIG SHOWS.

[mr.carnival]

I GREW UP IN THE BUSINESS BEEN WORKIN JOINTS SINCE I WAS 6 IVE SEEN POT THAT WHOLE TIME ON THE MIDWAY AND EVERYTIME A ACCIDENT HAPPENED ON A RIDE THE RIDE JOCK WAS STONED I USED TO SMOKE WEED BUT I KICKED THE HABIT THREE YEARS AGO IT WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEWHERE ON THE MIDWAY WHEN U GOT MOOCHES AND MARKS OFFERING IT. THE DAYS OF CIZARN AND HEY RUBES HAVE BEEN OVER FOR AWHILE BUT THAT IS ONE THING I FEEL WILL ALWAYS BE ON THE MIDWAY

[nathan "bulldog" pittman]

ok i got to say that i would rather support pot on a midway then alcohol alcohol leads to trouble 90% of the time when they are workin they shouldnt have anything but caffiene and maybe nicatine in that system as for doller bill who says he need somethin to keep him up during long hours at state fairs did u not know bout the long hours going in??? and if u did and couldnt handle them natually then maybe its not the job for u i couldnt work in a hot steel mill everyday so i dont apply so as far as meth or crack or anything of the sort it doesnt matter what job u have u will find an excuse to do it i have fired more than one person for drinkin and gettin biligerent and telling me awww i can work while drinkin well maybe u can but not on my crew ur not ill run my joint my self before i put up with some loud mouth drunk or some crack head thats going to steal so he can get that one more fix i lost a very good friend because his help was buying crack while they were set up his name is RAYMOND HAWKINS and he was totally against it but it still got him shot there u go we lost a great man because some idiot couldnt control himself way to go if u want to do drugs or get drunk thts fine go way off in the woods and do as much as u want just dont do it round me

[Joan]

I have the same problem with ride jocks doing drugs as I do with truck drivers. If you're in a position that has you controlling the fate of other people's safety, you shouldn't be high or drunk. You can't operate a car while drunk or high, why would you be allowed to operate a ride with little kids on it?
I don't, however, understand testing jointees. To me, the reason for a drug test isn't to monitor your employees personal lives, it's to ensure your customer's safety. So...how is a stoned tub agent really endangering the public? I also think it's not just this business. I worked at a Dollar General last winter and they tested me. Now seriously- who the hell am I gonna hurt, standing behind a counter ringing up customer purchases? I don't do drugs, so it's really a nonissue for me- but c'mon...if a person wants to do that ###### on their own time and it's not dissruptive or dangerous to the public, than what's the reasoning behind the test?
The year before last I drove for FedEx during Christmas and I would've been enraged if they hadn't tested me- it's a safety issue.
So...I know I'm rambling here, but I guess my point is that I don't find it insulting that they test ride jocks but I don't think there's any reason to test jointees unless they're also drivers.

p.s. My boyfriend got dq'ed off Wade Shows last year in OK City because he had pain pills in his system. They basically told him that it wouldn't be a big deal if they hadn't just had an accident involving a ride jock with the same ###### in his system. So I may be biased.

[Dunktankclown]

I totally agree with Joan and Bulldog....and Zach, it sounds like you guys are doing a great job and have a good plan to help the situation. Maybe I am biased, I never drank or did drugs, so it's not really fair to judge maybe, but, I own games and I feel that if you can't show up in the morning or at call, with ALL of your brains, how are you gonna make money for yourself or me. I'm sure you all kinow that alcohol is THE MOST ABUSED drug today. There is no reason why we can't have a positive work atmosphere with drug testing or whatever it takes to clean up the business as a whole. We also all know what a big money biz we are in, and it will take all of us to keep it clean.