|
Drug testing is a big business. With at least fifteen large U.S.
corporations supplying laboratory testing, employees and others
are only a few minutes's drive from a testing facility. From employers
who use drug testing as a pre-employment screening tool to parents
who want to keep tabs on the well being of their teenagers, there
are many groups that frequently use drug testing as a screening
mechanism.
Since the mid-1980's, drug testing has become more and more common.
Probably the group that is tested most often is prospective employees.
With strict workplace safety legislation and the fact that employees
can use dangerous equipment or have access to sensitive information,
employers want to be certain that their employees are not drug abusers.
With a sample of urine, hair, blood or swab from the mouth, drug-testing
laboratories can often product positive or negative results within
24 to 48 hours.
Recently, drug abuse testing has become increasingly common in
professional athletics. With the controversies surrounding the use
of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, athletes are
under a great deal of scrutiny. The government has also stepped
in, and has begun to implement stricter controls and more frequent
screening of athletes. A positive result on a drug test can result
in penalties such as fines, loss of game time, or complete dismissal
from the team. It is safe to say that drug-abusing athletes are
taking huge risks with their careers by abusing performance or other
illegal drugs.
Opponents of drug testing argue that it violates a person's rights
to privacy. They hold that even if an employee is a recreational
drug user, it does not necessarily follow that his or her work will
be affected. With random drug testing gaining popularity in the
workforce, one may literally be drawn out of a hat as the next one
up for a drug screening. While states only loosely enforce drug-testing
laws, opponents say that random drug testing can ruin a person's
life. Even recreational weekend usage may result in the loss of
employment if the drug usage is determined with a drug test. Random
drug testing is often argued to be testing without any probable
cause.
|
