Drug Testing

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer introduces, discusses and analyzes the topic of drug testing. Specifically, it discusses drug testing in the workplace, including the origins of such testing. The writer looks at reasons why this testing is used, where it is applicable, and also discusses the different types of drug testing. The writer notes that drug testing is a fairly recent workplace innovation, and as such it has faced opposition, legal challenges, and criticism from a variety of groups who cite evidence testing is counter productive and does not aid in decreasing drug use or employee effectiveness. The writer concludes that this issue continues to be contentious and deliberated in courtrooms and boardrooms across the nation.

From the Paper:

"Workplace drug testing owes its roots to the U.S. military. Initially, drug testing procedures were tested and developed by the military to test American service men and women returning to the States from Vietnam in the late 1960s. Drug usage was high among military personnel during the Vietnam War, and the military devised their tests because of this. Their official reason was worry over operational readiness and safety issues if military personnel drug use became too widespread. Testing also was used to test Olympic athletes and in drug rehabilitation clinics, such as methadone facilities, along with prisoners in many of America's penitentiaries. During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan approved the use of drug testing for federal employees, and the practice mushroomed after that, becoming commonplace in the workplace up to the present. One of the reasons drug testing has become so prevalent is because of new testing technologies developed in the late 1970s that allowed for testing vast numbers of specimens with reliable and quick results."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Editors (2005). Drug testing legislative brief. Retrieved from the Workrights.org Web site: http://www.workrights.org/issue_drugtest/dt_legislative_brief.html 20 April 2006.
• Angarola, R. T. (1991). 8 Substance-abuse testing in the workplace: Legal issues and corporate responses. In Drug testing: Issues and options, Coombs, R. H. & West, L. J. (Eds.) (pp. 155-182). New York: Oxford University Press.
• (1991). 1 A history of drug testing. In Drug testing: Issues and options, Coombs, R. H. & West, L. J. (Eds.) (pp. 3-18). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Gips, M. A. (1999, December). Drug testing assailed. Security Management, 43, 16.
• Hartwell, T. D., Steele, P. D., & Rodman, N. F. (1996). Prevalence of drug testing in the workplace. Monthly Labor Review, 119(11), 35+.

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