To The United States Congress, state legislatures, and every candidate for federal office

Ordinary Americans are drug tested to stock shelves, drive delivery vans and work in hospitals. The people who control the military, the federal budget and the laws we all live under are not required to take a single test. They also don't have to tell us when they are seriously ill, in declining mental health, or on medication that affects their judgment.

That is a double standard, and it's time to end it.

Why this petition is needed
In 1997 the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in Chandler v. Miller that Georgia could not require candidates for state office to pass a drug test. Bills to drug test members of Congress have been introduced more than once and have never made it out of committee. Today no elected official in this country can be required to take a drug test, and none is required to share their health records.

History shows what happens when the public is kept in the dark. Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke in 1919, and his wife and doctor hid how disabled he was for over a year. Franklin Roosevelt's serious heart disease was downplayed while he ran for a fourth term, and he died months into it. John F. Kennedy publicly denied having Addison's disease while taking a heavy mix of steroids and painkillers.

In each case, voters found out too late.

What we are asking for

1. A constitutional amendment requiring the President, Vice President and members of Congress to take an annual hair follicle drug test, with results made public. Cannabis follows the laws of the official's home state, the same as for the citizens they represent.
2. Every positive result reviewed by an independent Medical Review Officer, so legally prescribed medication is verified and not counted as a failure. Prescriptions that can affect judgment, focus or alertness are disclosed to the public.
3. An annual medical summary from an independent physician, disclosing any condition that affects the ability to do the job. That includes serious illness, cognitive decline and chronic pain severe enough to interfere with the work.
4. Disability is no barrier to service. Ordinary workers must disclose a disability to receive accommodations, often at the risk of their jobs despite legal protections. Elected officials should be held to at least that same standard.
5. Until an amendment passes, we ask every candidate for federal office to voluntarily take the test, release the summary, and publish the results before Election Day.

Answering the objections
This is not about punishing people who are sick. A doctor verifies prescriptions before any result counts, and accommodations for disability are welcome.

This is not a political weapon. The same standard applies to every official in every party, every year, with results reviewed by an independent physician and not by political opponents.

A hair follicle test covers roughly the past 90 days. It doesn't catch one bad day. It shows a pattern, and patterns matter in people who hold this much power.

Sign this petition
If we can be tested to earn a paycheck, the people who make decisions for all of us can be tested to hold office. Sign and share this petition to demand that our leaders meet the same standard they set for everyone else.

Sign online: https://change.org/fitness-to-serve