ALT-5 Is Drug Testing an Invasion of Privacy
There is little doubt that workplace drug testing is an invasion of privacy. But it is an invasion that many of us are probably willing to live with, at least in some form. Why do I say that it is an invasion of privacy? For those of you who have not gone through it, here's the process from the perspective of somebody who has done it several times a year for over a decade.
First, you are given a specimen cup for your 'donation.' But you don't get to just go someplace and take care of business. There are people that make chemicals that you can slip into your urine to throw off the test, and un-monitored employees have sometimes "shared the effort" to cover up for each other. So in almost all cases, somebody from your employer will have to go with you to the bathroom and will have to observe. Exactly what "observing" means will vary. But the norm is that you will be performing under the watchful eyes of somebody to make sure that the cup contains only your urine, and nothing else.
Then, your urine is sent to a lab. In the lab, they will run screening tests for chemicals and byproducts. But those tests will also detect some perfectly legal drugs and can return a positive result that you will have to explain. That's the second invasion of your privacy. Your company might (MIGHT) have a right to know if you are high on cocaine while operating machinery. They probably have no right to know if you took Sudafed yesterday for a cold. Your minor medical conditions are not your employer's business unless and until it effects your job performance.
And then there is a third, and fortunately very rare, way that your privacy is invaded by drug tests. Some companies have used drug tests to search for other things. The one that you hear about most often is a police department that used its "drug tests" to screen women employees to figure out who was pregnant. There are plenty of things that your urine can tell somebody about you. Once they have it, who knows what they will do? See if you've been smoking and fire you or raise your health insurance premiums?
But, that said, most of us say that we are willing to tolerate workplace drug screening. Why? Sometimes it is because the jobs are so dangerous that we don't want people doing them high. The next time you get on an airline, think about whether you want them to be able to test their pilots or mechanics for drug use. There is a perception, partly true, that long distance truck drivers use stimulants to stay awake. Maybe we want them tested also. Professional athletes? Maybe them too. But if your daughter is flipping burgers for her first job, do we really want her to have to go in the back and urinate in a cup while her manager watches to prove that she is sober? Sure, she is lucky to have that job at all. But is this really necessary?
