A state lawmaker feels that politicians should be held to a higher standard than many state employees, and that includes keeping the body clean of foreign substances.

Legislation proposed last week by state Rep. John Lawrence, a Chester County Republican, would require candidates for state-level elected office to be subjected to a drug test. This would mean drug screenings for candidates for state representative, state senator, governor, lieutenant governor, elected row offices and judges.Currently, state employees are expected to be in fit condition to do their jobs and are not supposed to bring alcohol or drugs to the workplace. Dan Egan, a spokesman for the Office of Administration, said only select categories of employees face drug testing. The state requires pre-employment screening and then random drug tests for workers who need a commercial driver's license and for those who work in public-safety fields, such as state police cadets, corrections officer trainees and game officers.Last year, the state House passed a bill requiring prospective schoolteachers and workers to take a drug test. The Senate never acted on it, but it did set the groundwork for the action put forth by Lawrence, who is still refining language in the bill. Lawrence has the support of state Rep. Jerry Knowles of Schuylkill County, who is also an advocate for drug testing for recipients of public assistance. Knowles also feels lawmakers are not above the law.There is widespread support for the initiative. A poll last year found that 78 percent of Americans favored random drug testing for members of Congress and an even greater majority than those who favored drug testing for welfare recipients.Andy Hoover, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, however, said his organization does not favor such action, pointing out that government has less leeway than the private sector when it comes to drug screenings. A government-instituted drug test, he said, becomes a Fourth Amendment problem since it concerns the protection of individual rights.Lawrence is not the first lawmaker to favor drug testing of politicians. Last year, Florida state Rep. Dane Eagle filed his "Drug-Free Public Officers Act" that would require the state's public officials and judges to submit to drug testing or resign their positions if they refuse. Eagle, however, also filed a companion bill that exempts public officials' drug testing results from the public record, citing possible "unwarranted damages to the reputation of a public officer."The Legislature finds that the chilling effect to a public officer who is seeking treatment for his or her substance abuse which would result from the release of this information substantially outweighs any public benefit derived from disclosure to the public," the bill reads. "Further, making this information confidential and exempt will encourage public officers to seek treatment for substance abuse and thereby preserve the integrity of government institutions and agencies."Eagle, like Lawrence, also mentions the "higher standard" as a motive for his proposal, explaining that if drugs are illegal, then politicians needed to be checked on that. Both the Pennsylvania and the Florida lawmakers' drug testing bills make perfect sense.By JIM ZBICKtneditor@tnonline.com