The council is waiting to receive more information from the city attorney before they resume discussions about the matter, Singh said.

“I don’t care what taxi cab drivers do on their own time, in their own homes and in their private lives,” Singh said. “But these reports that I’ve heard from students, as well as other cab drivers, of potential drug and alcohol use while they’re driving is something that’s a great concern to me.”

Singh first learned about these allegations from a report by The State News on Aug. 6 – an article in which two former employees of Big Daddy Taxi accused employees who still work at the company of smoking marijuana and handing out beer to MSU freshmen while on duty.

Big Daddy Taxi owner Cleat Jones vehemently denied the accusations, saying that if he had “people doing that stuff, they would have gone to jail and been fired.”

Still, the allegations were enough to arouse concern in City Hall.

Singh said he isn’t sure what kind of policy the City Council will adopt. Everything, including random drug testing, is a possibility, he said.

Implementing a strict drug testing policy for taxi cab drivers would be a tremendous safety measure for the city to take, said Mehedi Kamal, general manager of Big Daddy Taxi.

“It’s for the greater good,” Kamal said. “There should be drug testing in cab companies, but I do not believe there should be random drug testing. People come here for jobs, and I just don’t want the cops or anyone harassing them while they’re doing their work for a random drug test.”

In addition to enhancing safety, periodical drug tests would vindicate Big Daddy Taxi from all the false accusations, Kamal added.

“It helps us to prove that all our drivers are regularly drug tested, so no one can come up and say our drivers are using drugs,” he said.

At this point, any policy aiming to deter taxi cab drivers from driving under the influence would be a step in the right direction, said Julie Voeller, co-owner of Shaggin’ Wagon Taxi.

“Taxi cab drivers should be held to a higher standard,” Voeller said. “The insurance companies understand we should be held to a higher standard, it’s a good thing that the city of East Lansing is recognizing that as well.”

Alex Altman can be reached at altmanal@msu.edu.