S.Galper
GE217
3/1/12
Mandatory Drug Testing In The Work Place For many years, the United States has been involved in many wars, costing millions of dollars and the death of many people. One of the longest wars that the US is still facing is drug abuse in the work place, and a widespread strategy to combat this issue is mandatory drug testing. In September 15, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed execute order 12564, his goal was to establish a drug-free workplace. This order required all federal workers to abstain from drugs and submit to a voluntary drug test. Drug Abuse has a negative effect on the work place; therefore Drug testing should be mandatory in order to create a drug free and safe environment. This is a very …show more content…
If a constitutional right is the subject, employers have the right to know if workers are engaging in behavior that can damage a company. Other people will argue that it will cost a lot of money; truthfully covering cost of an accident, profit loss and workers compensation will be a lot more. Implementing a mandatory drug testing program in the workplace has many benefits for example in Washington D.C a small plumbing company saved 385,000 thousand dollars in one year after they established a drug testing program. Not only did they save money they also had decreased accident rates, lower workers compensation cost and lower vehicle insurance premiums. W.W Gay Mechanical contractor saved 100,000 dollars after establishing a drug free workplace programs. They also reported increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, and fewer accidents. This proves that Mandatory drug testing can be beneficial to the workplace. Many will argue that it is unconstitutional, and that it invades privacy but employers have the right to know it their employees are engaging in behavior that can really damage the company.
As long as Illegal drug and substances exist, the war on drugs will continue and combating its negative effects will not be an easy task. There are many people who engage in drugs and 75 percent of those people are employed and those people are the ones who contribute to an increase of accidents, loss of profit and loss of productivity. How much more are we going to lose until we deter these negative effects? Mandatory drug testing in the workplace is an effective strategy, it is better than doing nothing and fooling ourselves that it is unconstitutional and