American Notes DRUGS

The investigators' conclusions were troublesome but familiar: the Federal Railroad Administration announced last week that five workers involved in an April 6 commuter-train crash in Mount Vernon, N.Y., had used morphine, marijuana or codeine before the accident.

It should have been no surprise. Transportation Secretary James Burnley pointed out that since the drug-related Amtrak crash in Chase, Md., that killed 16 passengers in January 1987, there have been 37 railroad accidents in which one or more employees tested positive for illegal substances. "We don't need another rail disaster involving drugs to tell us that the railroad industry is not exempt from the drug epidemic," said Burnley, who has proposed random testing for workers in safety-related jobs.