Hi, need to submit a 250 words essay on the topic Workplace drug testing.
According to the SAMSHA Office of Applied Studies, 8.4 % of the US workforce in 2007 were users of drugs and almost the same percent were reported heavy users of alcohol (cited in US DOL, 2010, p.2). The bottomline impact of such statistics is that the employee, his/ her co-workers and the business itself sustains losses as a result of a poor performance by a drug dependent.
Therefore, there is a compelling reason to do drug testing like urinalysis or blood tests in order to deter and prevent substance abuse in workers, not just in public institutions but in all private and public businesses.
Today, the law mandates that all companies dealing with the government should have a drug-free workplace (US DHHS, SAMSHA, 1994, p.1). Some states also have their own laws on drug testing, but the focus is on companies that deal with the State. I believe that a drug-free workplace program, i.e., urinalysis drug tests and blood tests, should be enforced on all workplaces regardless of public or private transactions with the government. Where substance abuse is deterred, employees who truly are under the influence will seek employment where such behaviour can be tolerated. Thus, the program will not be effective if there will be companies left that can tolerate substance abuse. According to Larson, et al. (2007), 90% of workers that are elicit drug users or alcohol abusers work for small and medium-sized businesses (cited in US DOL, 2010, p.2). Yet most of these businesses are not mandated, not organized and resourced enough to have a sustainable drug-free workplace programs. Since small businesses make up a significant part of the society, they should get all the help they can from the government, more so on the aspect of drug abuse enforcement. There is already an existing law on drug applicable to public institutions and to effectively combat drug abuse in society, this existing law on drug testing should just be expanded to
