Tim and Dawn Force owned a Burger King in Torrington, which was fine.

Then they bought three in Casper and inherited a host of problems with their roots in substance abuse.

"People were robbing us blind," Force said.

Employees rifled the cash registers, stole food, and scared away customers.
So he went to attorney Jakob Norman and together they crafted a tough drug policy that became a model for other businesses.

It was initially tough on his restaurants, too.

"Fifty percent of our staff left," Force said. "The thing we were afraid of is losing our employee base."

Instead the policy improved the employee base to where the Burger Kings have a waiting list of 15-year-olds who want to work there, he said.

The savings from thefts enabled him and Dawn to give employees a $1 raise.

While employee turnover is still high, Force said the policy -- with pre-employment, random, suspicion-of-use, and post-accident testing -- did away with the 400 percent a year turnover rate.

The policy entails employees signing a statement they are aware of the drug testing, he said.

It also requires them to sign a release that allows him to contact previous employers about the employees' drug use and inform future employers who may run background checks.

"This is like a credit rating," Force said. "We share the positive as well."

But he and Norman acknowledged the possibility of employers abusing that power. Norman spoke at the annual methamphetamine awareness conference on Thursday in Casper.

A Wyoming law immunizes employers from civil liability if they tell -- in good faith -- other employers about former employees' drug activity, health or other performance, Norman said in a seminar.

The police need help in fighting substance abuse, and employers can help by not tolerating illegal drug use, Norman said.

But he acknowledged this law has a serious down side for employees whose former employers bad-mouth them under the guise of "good faith" about health or other issues.

"You're put in a bind when someone acts in bad faith and you can't afford a lawyer," Norman said.

Casper and Wyoming have tried to tackle the methamphetamine crisis with the annual conferences, a local task force, advertising campaigns, and a growing number of community employers who drug-test employees.

"The message that we're trying to send is that 'it's hurting our kids,' 'it's hurting our economy,' 'it's hurting our people,'"

Norman said. "The message is 'you need to kick it.'"

The community encourages employers to work with employees who have substance abuse problems and not fire them, he said.

But Norman admitted that an employer could tell another employer "in good faith" about a former worker's health or life and the worker would never know.

"It's a conundrum," he said.

"There are going to be some people that fall by the wayside as a result of it," Norman said.

On the other hand, he said, "A lot of the people that are costing people money are the users ... and they're wrecking vehicles and breaking the law and taking chances that endanger the public or their co-workers."