Have you been paying attention at all? Employee got injured and the medical staff recommended a drug test based on his behavior. What was I supposed to say? "No don't do a drug test, he normally acts like that". I don't care what people do on their own time but if you show up for work stoned and get injured that's a problem same as showing up drunk and getting injured. How would you like to be in a trench setting rebar knowing the guy up top on the machine is wasted?
Actually I'm having trouble paying attention because of the huge bomber I just smoked.
Just joking, I actually do not do drugs of any kind, but I've had a lot of friends and coworkers who do, and/or drink heavily. Some of whom are great worker and are very skilled, whom I have entrusted life and limb with many times, and will in the future, others, not so much.
My point had nothing to do with whether drug use is good or bad, or whether or not it's ok to show up to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol, I think we can all agree that certainly the latter is NOT good. My point is rather that a drug test is not going to determine whether a person is currently under the influence, or simply had used used drugs in the recent past, so it's results are not always all that relevant, or helpful.
If you know the person, and what is "normal" for them, YOUR OWN perception will be a much better test of that. You didn't seem to think the guy was acting weird the day he was injured, you stated "he normally acts like that". Maybe he's afraid of hospitals, or he gets sick when he sees blood, lots of reasons he could have been acting "weird" at the hospital, but he wasn't acting "weird" to you. You didn't seem to suspect drugs to be an issue, OR, the cause of the injury until the hospital reported his "weird" behavior to you.
I can understand the use of drug tests on a perspective employee. When you meet the person for the first time, you have very little to judge them on. So, you look at things like education and work history, references, talk to past employers, drug test, ect. to try and gage what type of employee this candidate may be. Once the person has worked for you for a while, you should have enough first hand knowlegde of their personality, abilities, intelligence, training, and work habits to determine if the employee is a good fit for your company.
If an employee is reasonably intelligent, shows up on time ready to work, works hard, follows directions, has his head in the game, and is a team player, I really don't care what he does on his own time, nor do I care what a drug test reveals. I simply want that person to be healthy and happy and continue to work for me.
On the other hand, if an employee is a space cadet, is always late/absent, accident prone, can't remember or follow directions, shows a lack of care in his work, has trouble getting along with others, or demonstrates any other major flaw that makes me not want to keep them employed at my shop, than I will seek to get rid of them, immediately. I can than understand the use of a drug test if drug use is suspected as a means to this end, but I really don't care whether the test is positive or not, I just want him gone either way!
You said that you don't want to fire the guy, he's an ok employee and you're otherwise happy with him. My point is only that in that case, why give him the test? If he's clean, you've gained nothing, but insulted the guy with your suspicion. If he had happened to smoke a joint with his buddies last weekend, you loose an otherwise good employee for that??? Does that seem worth it to you? Is that really a gain in your book?