Is it appropriate for employers to test their staff for drugs or alcohol? How reliable are these results? Why should someone invade your privacy? Do drug tests determine your skill level for a job? What do drug tests prove in the labor market? Arguments against drug testing are that it is excessively invasive, that it can damage employer-employee relations, and that it could hinder the recruitment and retention of good staff. In 1986, the Regan administration recommended a drug testing program for employers. In 1991, the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act was passed. It required mandatory drug testing in trucking and other industries. Over the past 25 years, drug testing in the military has increased. Today, approximately 62% of all employers in the United States have a mandatory drug testing program. Since then, drug testing in the workforce has been a very controversial topic. Drug testing should not take place in the workplace because it does not measure work difficulties, does not prevent accidents and is an invasion of privacy. There is no clear evidence that workplace drug testing has a significant deterrent effect. Drug testing is not a measure of current intoxication and will reveal information about drug use that may have no impact on safety, productivity or performance. Drug testing is designed to detect and punish behaviors that typically take place outside of the employer's working hours and premises, i.e., in private. Employers who conduct random drug testing of workers who are not suspected of drug use are policing private behavior that has no impact on job performance. A person may test positive after taking a medication days, weeks, or months ago. People generally not required to organize their lives to maximize their productivity at work...... middle of paper ......ation and work. Monitoring hearing on drug testing in the workplace. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. Durham, Robert, Eugene. Labor Education and Research Center. Oregon Univ., et al. and Workplace Issues: AIDS, Drug Testing, Sexual Harassment, and Smoking Restrictions, LERC Monograh Series No. 7. Second Edition. np: 1989. ÉRIC. Internet. December 2, 2013. Elliot, Karen and Kyna Shelley. “Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Behavior, Job Performance, and Workplace Safety.” Journal of Employment Counseling43.3 (2006): 130. ERIC. Internet. December 2, 2013 “Hundredth Congress”, second session np 1988. ERIC. Internet. November 20, 2013.Zarlone, Tersa. “Drug testing in the workplace is a sensitive issue. » Caribbean Affairs29.39. (2001): 38 researches in the Caribbean. Internet. November 20. 2013