Drug Testing Complete for Governor’s Cabinet

(Chilpancingo, JG 20 May) Yesterday, a private lab started performing drug tests on all state employees, beginning with Ángel Aguirre Rivero, the governor himself, and continuing to the 106 secretaries, undersecretaries and department heads. The Secretary of Government (much like the Governor’s chief of staff in the US), told the press that any person who flunks the drug test will have to renounce his or her position. The test can detect drug use within the previous thirty days. Results are due by next Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Each test cost about $25 US dollars. The results with respect to the governor and his cabinet will be made public, according to a press spokesman.

Policemen at city, state and federal levels are routinely subjected to some form of drug testing, but, according to press reports, the system is subject to manipulation and corruption. Often a positive test does not result in any sanctions, especially at the municipal levels. The governor wants to enforce the program strictly for police at the state level, and to extend the policy to other public servants; however, the breadth of the testing program and the timeframe have not yet been specified.