New Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy

MidlifeFlyer

Well-Known Member
Interesting new policy from the FAA on commercial pilots and instructors who fail or refuse drug/alcohol testing. Briefly summarized, the process by which the FAA revokes pilot certificates and the 1-year post revocation wait to apply for new certificates means that a pilot who has taken advantage of the Human Intervention Motivation Study (‘‘HIMS’’) Program might obtain a Special Issuance medical certificate well before his or her pilot certificate has been revoked. To shorten the process and get the pilot back in the air earlier, the FAA is instituting a policy in which the pilot can opt for earlier revocation.

Link to the publication of the policy https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-07-19/pdf/2018-15352.pdf
 
The question is, do we really want people who fail drug/alcohol tests flying airplanes?

Everyone knows that when you decide to become a pilot, you have to play by the rules.

If one is willing to break the Drug/Alcohol rules, what other rules is he willing to break?
 
The question is, do we really want people who fail drug/alcohol tests flying airplanes?

Everyone knows that when you decide to become a pilot, you have to play by the rules.

If one is willing to break the Drug/Alcohol rules, what other rules is he willing to break?

HIMS Program

Do some reading about why (mostly) people that bust a test and then complete the program are some of the most reliable, by the rules pilots out there.
 
The question is, do we really want people who fail drug/alcohol tests flying airplanes?

Everyone knows that when you decide to become a pilot, you have to play by the rules.

If one is willing to break the Drug/Alcohol rules, what other rules is he willing to break?

Don't assume because you hear "drug and alcohol" that people are busting for cocaine and everclear...

You can bust a drug test on an unapproved medication, ever accidentally take NyQuil or some other unapproved medication? Well if you have, and you got popped for a test, you would test positive and have to go under HIMS to protect yourself. Does busting for NyQuil really warrant never flying again because you are a "druggie"?
 
The question is, do we really want people who fail drug/alcohol tests flying airplanes?

Everyone knows that when you decide to become a pilot, you have to play by the rules.

If one is willing to break the Drug/Alcohol rules, what other rules is he willing to break?
What if I told you that you need not be an addict to break the rules?
 
I wish people that got DUIs were required to do HIMS and not allowed to drive for a year.
It's unclear if that would work. One of the key aspects that IMO, makes HIMS work, is that pilots want to fly. Sometimes more than anything else, even more so than an addict wants that next fix. In that scenario, there is leverage over the person.
That's not the only reason HIMS works, but I think it's an important part of it.
In your scenario I'd venture a guess that it would work with people with a lot to lose. Other's I'd imagine it'd be a much lower success rate. Certainly nothing approaching the aviation success rate.
 
OR the fact that pilots are *gasp* people. There's a distinction between people that "break the rules" and people that haven't broken the rules but realize "Hey, I might have a problem and I want to seek help".
The collective humanity is a problem.
 
They're letting people have their certificates revoked sooner so the 1 year clock starts.
Exactly. It's doesn't change what happens. It changes when it happens. Speeds up the pilot certificate revocation process To (hopefully) lessen the time between getting a HIMS SI medical and your pilot certificates back.
 
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Hmm... never said that....

All kinds of people break rules.

I break rules all the time and it usually ends up ad "hmm, I didn't realize that was even a rule." I'll give you an example. A few years back, I got a prescription for Chantix. I almost took it, but I was talking to a captain about it and he told me it's not approved. That would have been an inadvertant breaking of the rules had he not told me not to fill the script.
 
I break rules all the time and it usually ends up ad "hmm, I didn't realize that was even a rule." I'll give you an example. A few years back, I got a prescription for Chantix. I almost took it, but I was talking to a captain about it and he told me it's not approved. That would have been an inadvertant breaking of the rules had he not told me not to fill the script.

Ugh when I was in the AF we had a dude go on Chantix. Couldn’t work traffic for 6 or 7 months while he took it, then when he was done went right back to smoking
 
Been trying to quit for a few years now. I always seem to find an excuse to not. I need to start finding the opposite.

The cost was a huge motivating factor for me. There were others, but it was at least the second on the list.

I looked at all my receipts for a week, did the math on how much the smokes were....basically came out to spending $3200-3500 a year on cigarettes.
 
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