Drug Testing in Industrial Environments

This research presents a review and an assessment of drug testing in industrial environments, as the practice is a labor relations management issue. For purposes of this research, the term drugs refers to illegal street narcotics, and does not encompass alcohol, tobacco, or prescription drugs. The review begins with a brief description of the drug abuse environment.

The seriousness of the drug problem in the United States (US)is not open to question.1 The toll exacted on society and on individuals within the society in both social and economic contexts is both appalling and enormous.2

It can be fairly stated that the majority of illegal drugs used in the US is imported, as opposed to being produced domestically. This assertion, however, is very general. All of the cocaine is either imported or requires the importation of coca leaves. On the other hand, however, some estimates place

1P. M. Barrett, "Federal War on Drugs Is Scattershot Affair, With Dubious Progress," The Wall Street Journal, 10 August 1989, A1, A16.

2T. Morganthau, "Hitting the Drug Lords," Newsweek, 4 September 1989, 1823

domestic marijuana production ahead of imports of that substance.

Drug abuse is not a serious problem in most of the countries from which drugs are imported to the US, for the quite straightforward reason that drug abuse is so heavily punished in most of those countries. By contrast, most drug ab

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stions on Drug Testing," 30. 12Ibid. 5testing in the workplace is much more a labor relations management issue than it is a legal issue. ASSESSING DRUG TESTING IN THE WORKPLACE AS A LABOR RELATIONS MANAGEMENT ISSUE Precedent for consideration of mandatory drug testing in the private sector workplace exists with respect to the AIDS (acquired immuno deficiency syndrome). AIDS has been a known disease for less than a decade. In that relatively short period of time, however, it has emerged as one of the most fearful public health problems, and as one of the most divisive social issues to ever confront American society.13 The fear surrounding AIDS, together with incomplete knowledge, and inaccurate public perceptions with respect to its transmission and risk groups, has created monuental problems for governmental agencies and private sector organizations in their attempts to develop policies and programs for combating the disease, and for dealing with the tangential effects of the disease.14 Two of the most significant of these tangential effects for employers are (1) testing employees for AIDS infection, and (2) deciding what to do about such employees when they test positive. In the face of this ser

Category: Government - D