WORKPLACE DRUG TESTING AND THE LAW

By: Cori Muller

Drug testing in the workplace is a widely implemented drug prevention strategy

Prior to 1980 drug testing was limited mainly to individuals in the military

Executive Order 12564

It’s a million dollar industry

It’s intended to deter people from drug use

Productivity loss

Based on claims

Substances most likely and least likely to be detected through drug testing

PROBLEMS AND CLAIMS:

VIOLATION OF PRIVACY: Drug testing is an intrusive process

Imagine this one woman’s story of humiliation, degradation and mortification

MORE ISSUES OF PRIVACY: The lab procedure

What it reveals besides drug use

The 1988 case

DECREASES PRODUCTIVITY: Drug testing implies a lack of trust

Could lead to a less productive and negative work environment

THE INACCURACY ISSUE: High inaccuracy rate Fails to distinguish between legal and illegal

substances Other substances can yield a false positive Employers are prohibited to ask employees

about their prescription drug use

HOW PEOPLE BEAT DRUG TESTS:

Several products are made to beat drug tests

Alternatives to urine testing and the problems with them

COURT CASES:

AFGE LOCAL 1533 v. CHENEY (1991)

SKINNER v. RAILWAY LABOR EXECUTIVES’

ASSCOIATION (1989)

WILCHER v. CITY OF WILMINGTON

A FEW LAST FACTS:

Drug Free Families Act

Doesn’t guarantee safety

CONCLUSION: Little evidence to suggest that drug-testing

policies are effective in reducing drug use It’s a profitable industry Drug testing in the workplace… Few laws protecting privacy Millions tested with no suspicion of drug use May result in more harm then good “Drug Testing is a Bad Investment”

SOURCES: "AFGE LOCAL 1533 v. CHENEY | Leagle.com." Web. Mosher, Clayton James., and Scott Akins. Drugs and

Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007. 291-97. Print.

"PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DRUG TESTING: A LEGAL GUIDE." Workrights RSS. Web.

"Skinner v. Railway Lab. Execs. Ass'n 489 U.S. 602 (1989)." Justia Law. Web.

"WILCHER v. CITY OF WILMINGTON | Leagle.com." Web.

"Workplace Drug Testing." American Civil Liberties Union. Web.