ed to promote the interests of the larger society. The concept of mandatory drug testing as a condition of employment should not be a part of this issue conflict, however, because employers do not function as either society's police or as the protectors of societal values. With respect to the ethical dilemma involving the rule of law, the consideration would not be mandatory drug testing as a condition of employment. Rather, the consideration would be the mandatory drug testing of all residents.
Conflicting Positions With Respect to theEthical Issues Surrounding Mandatory
Testing As A Condition of Employment
The seriousness of the illegal drug problem in the United States is not disputed (Barrett, 1989). The toll social and economic exacted on both individuals and the larger society is enormous (Morgenthau, 1989). Regardless of the seriousness of the drug problem, most users of illegal drugs in the United States tend to think that they can either escape detection, or, in the event of detection, serious penalty (Smith, 1991). Mandatory drug testing as a condition of employment constitutes a threat to the assumption that detection can be avoided. Most American politicians are fond of proclaiming that foreign drug lords and domestic drug pushers are poisoning America's youth. While the term youth requires definitio
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