Drug testing can still be a controversial topic in today’s society depending on whom one asks.It causes uproar from workers to students across America while it applauded by others.The drug testing issue and conversation has spread into many areas of our society such as the workplace, sports, school, military and criminal justice system and has even trickled into our social safety system, such as welfare and unemployment.We will explore some of the many facets of drug testing and its impact on society including the history,progression,pros and cons, industry, testing methods and more.
Prior to the late 1980’s there were no drug testing laws in the United States. The push for drug testing started under President Ronald Reagan’s administration
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This meant that all federal workers would need to pass a urine drug test prior to obtaining a job with the federal government. The testing focused on particular illegal substances such as marijuana, cocaine, opiates and amphetamines. These drugs are all classes of the most commonly found illegally abused drug in the United States of America. After the federal government instituted this act many private companies in the United States followed suit and started their own drug testing programs following the lead of the United States government. Of course on the flip side the institution of drug testing in the late 1980’s caused protests from civil right groups, activists and others who question the accuracy or validity of the testing. The initial tests were urine tests which aren’t always the most effective tests but are cost effective and still commonly used today. Since the late 1980’s there have been many scientific, technical and legal challenges to the validity of drug testing. Based on these many issues, of this rather new act (1987) the United States Department of Health and Human services has put through many strict procedural guidelines for specimen validity testing, chain of custody for