The Use Of Drug Testing

Drug testing through urinalysis was first used on military personnel coming home from the Vietnam War and on people receiving treatment for drug abuse issues. Since then, drug testing has been done on a wide array of populations, including criminals, parents, children, pregnant women, and employees. “Drug testing is most prevalent in the United States, where drug enforcement and punishment are primary strategies to address drug use in society” (Macdonald et al., 2001)

Drug testing in the workplace has become a controversial issue, with many believing that the act of drug testing employees is an invasion of privacy and an infringement upon rights. As more and more states legalize Marijuana there is debate whether employees can still be fired for having this “drug” in their system even though the state government, not federal, has allowed the recreational use of the drug. The “War on Drugs” significantly impacted the way employers, and employees alike perceived drug abuse and created a strong push for law enforcement to crack down on drug users. Troops returning from the Vietnam War who used Heroin also had a large impact on the drug testing protocols we see today. This paper will examine the history of drug testing, explore how testing is affected by legalized Marijuana, explore both the affirmation and the opposition to drug testing in the workplace, and conclude with recommendations for possible changes.

Some people may say that mandatory drug testing is a violation of the athletes’ Fourth Amendment right. According to some people, these tests are unnecessary and therefore violate these rights. The author of “Mandatory Drug Testing Violates Rights” believes that drug testing is a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution; “Courts have ruled that drug tests are a search. A search is a privacy issue, and there has to be a reason for the search.” This is true. Drug tests are a search, and in some cases they may violate the rights of some citizens. Professional athletes, on the other hand, do not get their rights violated by this. This does not violate the Fourth Amendment because the athletes have already agreed to the rules of participating in the sport. Deborah Lee and Ann Griswold, authors of “Point: Athletes Should be Tested for Drugs” explains that “in none of these cases have athletes’ Constitutional rights been abrogated because the participation in athletic events is always voluntary and never mandatory. The ‘mandate’ only comes into play after the athlete has agreed to participate, thereby voluntarily agreeing to obey the rules of the sport.” This explains how the athletes have agreed to the rules of the activity, which in most cases prohibit the use of many performance enhancing substances, so since they have agreed to these conditions, the mandatory drug testing of athletes is not a violation of their rights. An athlete’s rights are not being violated by

In many years, companies adopted many programs to monitor substance abuse in the workplace. The implementation of drug testing by companies grew in recent years. American workers have seen a dramatic increase in the use of drug testing in the previous years. Drug testing is implemented to assure safe workplaces for American workers. Drug testing can reduce the company’s health care and insurance costs. Even though drug testing has become common in the workplace, there is little research that exists regarding this matter. Overall, drug testing affects the decisions of workers by adopting a “zero tolerance” policy. Experienced users try to beat these tests by using drug to cancel the tracking of the drug itself. These workers attempt to avoid the detection of drug use for long periods (Borack, 1995).

Drug testing has become a very big issue for many companies. Approximately eighty-one percent of companies in the United States administer drug testing to their employees. Of these, seventy-seven percent of companies test employees prior to employment. Even with the commonality of drug testing, it is still a practice that is generally limited to larger corporations which have the financial stability, as well as the human resources to effectively carry out a drug testing program. In the United States, it is suggested that as many as 70 percent of drug users are employed. Now this is a huge chunk, but as a result of drug testing, these big corporations have a significantly lower percentage of the employed drug users on their

Why should we drug test students in schools? Some seem to think drug tests could have a negative effect on students and their relationship with their community amongst their school, while others think drug tests should definitely find their way into the school system. Really, drug tests should be implemented into all school systems. Schools aren’t looking to punish students for going on the wrong track, rather they aspire to lead them back onto the correct way. The age of students in high schools generally range from 14-18 years of age, meaning they are not suppose to be doing any form of drugs. Students need to be tested at school to make sure they are on the right track and are focusing on their school work for a better future, rather

How many people have had an interview for a job, received a call that they were hired, and then heard their future employer say that they will have to do a drug test before they can start this new job? “Although many people think that illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine and other street drugs became a problem for youth in the 1960’s the truth of the matter is that there has always been a drug problem in the United States when it comes to substance abuse”(testcountry.org). This past summer I had an interview at Russel Stover Candies, when they called to tell me that the position was mine, they then informed me that I would have to pass a drug test before I could officially have the job. Although some jobs and people believe that drug testing in the workplace should take place, many people do not believe in drug testing. Opponents of WDT (Workplace drug testing) argue that the process of drug testing amounts to an unwarranted invasion of a person’s private life and their body. Some people believe that the statement “free consent” is impossible to obtain. Drug testing did not come into play in the United States until the late 1980’s as a part of the Reagan administration. Before that, there was no standard way for jobs, schools, and even sports to drug test employees, students, or athletes. People that had jobs working with heavy machinery or people that worked in the Department of Transportation were mainly the ones getting drug tested. The issues with drug

Slowly pushing students to become addicts, drug testing high school student athletes may or may not be to blame. In Facts & Statistics on Random Drug Testing of High School Students, Dr. M.H. Davis stated, “In the early 1990s, many school districts began to look into drug testing as a way to curb student drug use, which led to two U.S. Supreme Court cases involving student privacy. The court upheld the constitutionality of drug testing student athletes in 1995, and in 2002, the court expanded high school drug testing policies to include all students who participate in a competitive extracurricular activity. In those rulings, the court stated deterring student drug use was more important than privacy” (Davis). Drug testing high school athletes

Throughout recent years, applicant drug testing has become one of the most prevalently used strategies by many organizations to control substance abuse in the workplace. Drug testing is a selection tool used by organizations to determine whether or not an individual has previously used drugs and/or alcohol. Most employers find that drug testing, if done correctly, is a worthwhile investment associated with increased workplace safety, lower absenteeism, fewer on-the-job accidents, improved productivity, lower theft rates, and less medical and workers' compensation expenses (Grondin 142). By identifying and screening out substance abusers, organizations believe that they are also screening out those

These are my three reasons why high school athletes should be tested for the enhancement in drugs. My first statement is how many deaths there was and still are from drugs. My second point of view is how it can affect you and teammates. This is why we should have drug testing when it comes to athletes.

In order to keep organization ethical as it relates to drug testing, the U.S. Supreme Court has approved four methods for drug testing. The organization can request a blood, breath, hair, or urine tests. These tests will not harm the job candidate or employee. The company will send the job candidate or employee to an off-site medical

If an employer is suspicious regarding a current employees' status, they are allowed by law to request or give a random drug test. In general, most courts do not need to hold a suspicion to randomly drug test unless there is a risk of damage or human injury involved. Although, in some state laws, there are private employers which are given the right to randomly test any employee without a reason. According Specifically to the Florida law, "An employer that conducts drug testing must give its policy to employees in writing, and employees must have at least 60 days’ notice of the policy".

“DON’T DO DRUGS!” This phrase is constantly repeated and everywhere you look at schools. They start preaching this to students at a young age to ensure that when the children are older they don’t participate in taking drugs. It has been recorded by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse that around seventeen percent of high school students are either drinking, smoking, or using drugs sometime throughout the school day (Huffpost, 2012). Imagine how many students are abusing or using drugs outside of school. Due to this high rate of drug and alcohol abuse drug testing in schools has become very popular. Random drug testing is a concept of many procedures and tests that ensure the capture of drug abusers and misusers in a legal manner.

The topic of random drug testing has been a very controversial one, especially in the last few years. RSDT (random student drug testing) made a rise in popularity after being legalized by the United States Supreme Court in 2006. This ruling made testing students who participate in extracurriculars or drive to school able to be tested for illegal drug abuse. This court decision is like many others in the aspect that some strongly agree and others heavily disagree. One side of opinions agrees with the court 's ruling and believes that RSDT programs help prevent drug abuse among the student population. Other people think that the programs infringe on the rights of students and offer no usefulness in the fight against

Drugs are substances which can be natural or manufactured from a source. It changes the way a person think, feel or act. In modern society the word "drug" has two meaning, the important role in medicine and the other as it is made up to chemicals and not natural. The abuse of drugs cause self-destruction and it’s harmful to society. Drugs has different names according to its chemical, generic and trade.it can either be legal (licit) or illegal (illicit). Legal drugs are known to be prescribed drugs which is sanctioned by government. Also tobacco and caffeine which are found in coffee, tea etc. Illegal drugs are drugs which causes harm to society and individuals, it’s prohibited by law. Illegal drugs are amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, and designer drugs. Designer drugs are substances which are made in laboratories by people who are unskilled and untrained.