Abstract
In this chapter the impact and effectiveness of drug testing programs in the workplace (sometimes referred to as drug screening programs) are examined. It will become clear in this review that few scientific evaluations have been conducted to assess the impact of screening programs; therefore, much of this chapter focuses on our speculations about possible impacts. For the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of screening programs, the objectives of screening and the critical assumptions underlying these objectives are assessed. A primary focus of this chapter is what happens to companies when drug screening programs are initiated. Because screening programs can be implemented in a number of different ways, the answer is largely dependent on the type of program and how it is implemented. These variations in types of screening programs and their possible differential impacts are explored. Prior to exploring these issues, an examination of the history and extent of drug testing programs is provided. This historical perspective is useful for understanding why these programs were initiated and how prevalent they are today.
Keywords
- Drug Testing
- Drug Screening
- Drug Positive
- National Drug Control Policy
- Workplace Problem
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Addiction Research Foundation, 1990, Employment-Related Drug Screening, Toronto.
Axel, H., 1989, Characteristics of firms with drugs testing programs, in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, no. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Blank, D., and Fenton, J., 1989, Early employment testing for marijuana: Demographic and employee retention patterns, in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, no. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Castro, J., Beaty, J., and Dolan, B., 1986, Battling the enemy within, Time (March 17), pp. 52–61.
Cornish, C. M., 1988, Overview of drug use and drug testing, in: Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace: Testing and Privacy, pp. 33–50, Callaghan and Company, Wilmette, IL.
Crant, J. M., and Bateman, T. S., 1990, An experimental test of the impact of drug-testing programs on potential job applicants’ attitudes and intentions, Journal of Applied Psychology 75:127–131.
Crouch, D., Webb, D., Peterson, L., Buller, P., and Rollins, D., 1989, A critical evaluation of the Utah Power and Light Company’s substance abuse management program: Absenteeism, accidents and costs, in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, no. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Decresce, R. P., Lifshitz, M. S., Ambre, J., Mazura, A. C., Tilson, J. E., and Cochran, K. M., 1989, Drug Testing in the Workplace, American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Chicago, IL.
DuPont, R. L., 1990, Mandatory random testing needs to be undertaken at the worksite, in: Controversies in the Addictions Field, vol. 1. R. C. Engs, ed., pp. 105–111, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, IA.
Eichler, S., Goldberg, C. M., Kier, L. E., and Allen, J. P., 1988, Operation “Red Block”: Case Study of a Peer Prevention Substance Abuse Program for Railroad Industry Personnel, Institute for Human Resources, Rockville, MD.
Ellis, D., 1988, Urine testing—A critical appraisal, Canadian Journal of Criminology 30:261–271.
Fay, J., 1991, Drug Testing, Butterworth-Heinemann, Stoneham, MA.
Glass, J., 1992, USCG puts drug testing on hold, Lloyds List, July 21.
Hayghe, H.V., 1991, Anti-drug programs in the workplace: Are they here to stay? Monthly Labor Review 114:26–29.
Heller, D., and Robinson, A., 1991, Substance Abuse in the Workforce, Ontario Ministry of Labor, Toronto.
Horgan, J., 1990a, Test Negative: A Look at the “Evidence” Justifying Illicit-Drug Tests, Scientific American, March 18, p. 22.
Horgan, J., 1990b, Your analysis is faulty, New Republic, April, pp. 33–35.
Jones, J. P., 1990, Drug testing did not reduce Southern Pacific’s accident rate, Forensic Urine Drug Testing (June):2–4.
Kaplan, E., and Williams, L. G., 1988, Will employees’ rights be the first casualty of the war on drugs? Kansas Law Review 36:755–785.
Klein, K. E., 1972, Prediction of flight safety hazards from drug induced performance decrements with alcohol as reference substance, Aeronautical Medicine 43:1207–1214.
Lederman, S., and Metz, B., 1960, Les accidents du travail et l’alcool, Population 15:301–316.
Macdonald, S., and Dooley, S., 1991, The nature and extent of EAPs and drug screening programs in Canadian transportation companies, Employee Assistance Quarterly 6:23–40.
Maltby, L. L., 1987, Why drug testing is a bad idea, Inc. June, pp. 152–153.
Markus, W., 1992, Questionnaire results tabulated, Forensic Urine Drug Testing, December, p. 5.
Masi, D. A., and Burns, L. E., 1986, Urinalysis testing and EAPs, EAP Digest 6:37–43.
McDaniel, M., 1989, Does pre-employment drug use predict on-the-job suitability? in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, no. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Needleman, S. B., and Romberg, R. W., 1989, Comparison of drug abuse in different military populations, Journal of Forensic Science 34:848–857.
Newcomb, M. D., 1988, Drug Use in the Workplace, Auburn House, Dover, MA.
Normand, J., and Salyards, S.D., 1989, An empirical evaluation of preemployment drug testing in the United States Postal Service: Interim report of findings, in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, no. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
Normand, J., Salyards, S. D., and Mahoney, J. J., 1990, An evaluation of pre-employment drug testing, Journal of Applied Psychology 75:629–639.
Occupational Safety and Health Reporter, 1989, DOT adopts final rule implementing drug testing for up to 4 million workers, Occupational Safety and Health Reporter 19:1261–1262.
Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1990, Building a Drug-Free Workforce, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Washington, DC
O’Keefe, A. M., 1987, The case against drug testing, Psychology Today, June, pp. 34–38.
Osterloh, J., and Becker, C. E., 1990, Chemical dependency and drug testing in the workplace, West J. Med. 152:506–513.
Papoz, L., Weill, J., L’Hoste, J., Chich, Y., Got, C., and Goehrs, Y, 1986, Biological markers of alcohol intake among 4,796 subjects in accidents, British Medical Journal 292:1234–1237.
Parish, D. C., 1989, Relation of the pre-employment drug testing result to employment status: A one year follow-up, Journal of General Internal Medicine 4:44–47.
Pell, S., and D’Alonzo, C., 1970, Sickness absenteeism of alcoholics, Journal of Occupational Medicine 12:198–210.
Potter, B. A., and Orfali, J. S., 1990, Drug Testing at Work: A Guide for Employers and Employees, Ronin Publishing, Berkeley, CA.
Rothman, M., 1988, Random drug testing in the workplace: Implications for human resource management, Business Horizons, March/April, pp. 23–27.
Rothstein, M. A., 1989, Medical screening and employment law: A note of caution and some observations, Employment Testing 3:363–369.
Ryan, J., Zwerling, C., and Jones, M., 1992, The effectiveness of preemployment drug screening in the prediction of employment outcome, Journal of Medicine 34:1057–1063.
Segal, J. A., 1989, How reasonable is your suspicion? Personnel Administrator, December, pp. 103–104.
Shain, M., 1982, Alcohol, drugs and safety: An updated perspective on problems and their management in the workplace, Accident Analysis and Prevention 14:239–246.
Sheridan, J., and Winkler, H., 1989, An evaluation of drug testing in the workplace, in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, No. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Smithers Institute, 1992, Report on Workplace Substance Abuse Policy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Stennett-Brewer, L., 1988, Employer drug testing: Legal issues—interview with Karen Hawley Henry, J.D., Employee Assistance Quarterly 4:57–70.
Taggart, R., 1989, Results of the drug testing program at Southern Pacific Railroad, in: Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, NIDA Research Monograph, No. 91, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Tyson, P., and Vaughn, A. V., 1987, Drug testing in the workplace, Occupational Health and Safety, April, pp. 24–36.
Walsh, J. M., and Gust, S. W., 1986, Drug abuse in the workplace, Seminars in Occupational Medicine 1:237–241.
Walsh, J. M., and Hawks, R. L., 1986, Q & A: Employee drug screening [leaflet], National Institute on Drug Abuse, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD.
Weeks, J. L., 1987, Eight problems examined that point out serious inadequacies in testing for drug abuse, Mining Engineering 39:999–1002.
Weiss, C., and Millman, R., 1989, Alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace in broad perspective, Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 65:173–184.
Willette, R. E., 1986, Drug testing programs, in: Urine Testing for Drugs of Abuse, NIDA Research Monograph, no. 73, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Winkler, H., and Sheridan, J., 1989, An examination of behavior related to drug use at Georgia Power Company, Presented at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Conference on Drugs in the Workplace: Research and Evaluation Data, Bethesda, MD.
Zwerling, C., Ryan, J., and Orav, E. J., 1990, The efficacy of pre-employment drug screening for marijuana and cocaine in predicting employment outcome, Journal of the American Medical Association 264:2639–2643.
Zwerling, C., Ryan, J., and Orav, E. J., Costs and benefits of preemployment drug screening, Journal of the American Medical Association 267:91–93.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Macdonald, S., Wells, S. (1994). The Impact and Effectiveness of Drug Testing Programs in the Workplace. In: Macdonald, S., Roman, P. (eds) Drug Testing in the Workplace. Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems, vol 11. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2399-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2399-4_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6017-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2399-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive