Flunking a pre-employment drug test shows you’re stupid—AND you use drugs. You applied for the job. You interviewed for it. You got it, pending a negative drug test. And you flunked it?

Wow. Double fail.

More and more companies are drug testing—even small companies. And more and more people are failing, some in a very public way. Certainly athletes and celebrities get the most attention, often for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).  But they’re not the only ones. And it’s not just PEDs.

  • Hell’s Kitchen winner Ja’Nel Witt lost the job she won because she forgot to quit using cocaine before the pre-employment drug test. D’oh!
  • Former LSU cornerback and Heisman finalist Tyrann Mathieu failed for marijuana. He knows they test. He failed anyway. 10 times! The current Arizona Cardinal claims he quit. Drug users lie, and they’re very good at it. Keep an eye on this one.
  • Knicks star J.R. Smith for marijuana—3 times.
  • Croatian tennis player Marin Cilic for amphetamines.
  • Seven track and field athletes failed drug tests at the August 2013 world championships in Moscow. Primarily PEDs.

These knuckleheads knew they were going to be tested, and still failed. But they are the exception. Most who know they will be tested abstain, at least until they pass the test. Pre-employment drug tests are easy to study for. A quick search of the internet reveals many sites devoted to passing drug tests.

Drug users lie, cheat and steal, just like alcoholics, gamblers and other people with vices to hide. Many are in denial, as are their employers.

That’s why random drug testing programs are so vital to keeping drugs out of the workplace. Industries with mandated random drug testing programs have MUCH lower positive rates. Random testing works. It is the single best deterrent to substance abuse in the workplace.

Yes, you will catch a lot of the stupid ones with pre-employment tests. And random testing will likely catch a few more. But the smart ones will abstain as long as there is a deterrent. Would you rather employ smart people or stupid people?