An Analysis of Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs

6.1 Drug Testing Programs

As illustrated by Figure 6.1, overall, 43.7 percent of full-time workers, age 18-49, indicated that their employer(s) tested its (their) employees for drug use. The most frequently mentioned occasion for testing was as part of the hiring process (35.0%). About 20 percent of employees reported that their workplace tested employees on a random basis; 27.8 percent said their workplace tested on the basis of reasonable suspicion of a supervisor; and 22.6 percent said their workplace tested following a work-related accident. [ These four categories are not mutually-exclusive: An employer could test for drug use for more than one reason. Moreover, all the drug-testing questions used in the NHSDA asked about testing for drug or alcohol use. The tables and text use the more generic term drug . ]

This page was last updated on June 03, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.