NCJ Number
166906
Date Published
1989
Length
13 pages
Annotation
State laws on employee drug testing are described, with emphasis on their impacts on programs to address drug abuse.
Abstract
Eight States had enacted comprehensive drug testing laws as of September 1988. Several of these laws were patterned after a model bill drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The comprehensive State drug testing laws have 12 basic provisions. Provisions include requiring probable cause or reasonable suspicion, regulating preemployment testing, prohibiting random testing, requiring a confirmatory test, requiring State-certified laboratories, requiring chain-of-custody procedures, requiring confidentiality of test results, requiring privacy in the testing process, requiring employee assistance programs, requiring notice to employees, civil remedies, and criminal penalties. The majority of the laws focus more on employee rights than on the drug abuse problems. However, statistics reveal clearly that properly instituted comprehensive drug prevention programs that couple drug testing with high laboratory standards, education and training programs for workers and supervisors, and treatment and rehabilitation services for workers who need them, do reduce drug abuse and improve health, safety, and productivity. A balance is needed between to reduce drug abuse and the need to protect employees from unreasonable actions by employers. Therefore, legislators should consider how best to ensure that appropriate drug testing is not unnecessarily curtailed while encouraging employers to establish comprehensive drug prevention programs aimed at providing a healthier, safer, more productive workplace. Table and 66 references