NCJ Number
113782
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 74 Dated: (October 1, 1988) Pages: 58-63
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A 1988 Gallup Poll shows that 28 percent of the Nation's largest companies screen their employees for drug use, and President Reagan has ordered all Federal agencies to develop testing plans for employees in sensitive positions.
Abstract
Such testing policies are not without critics who feel that mandatory testing is offensive to traditional notions of personal privacy. With Federal and State courts split on the issue, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments to determine if drug testing by the Government is permissible, and if so under what conditions. The Court will focus on two cases, one involving a Customs Service policy to test job applicants and certain employees, the other challenging a Federal Government requirement that blood and urine tests to detect alcohol and drugs be conducted on all crew members of trains involved in accidents. Under the Customs Service testing program, applicants testing positive for drug use will not be hired, while current employees testing positive are subject to dismissal. In this case and the railroad case, appeals court rulings have been contradictory as to whether testing constitutes a search and is overly intrusive. In these cases, proponents have argued that testing serves compelling interests and do not constitute search, while opponents argued that such testing is not reasonable unless based on information that would target an individual for suspicion. Critics also argue that testing may produce unreliable results and is an ineffective way to combat drug abuse. Photographs.