In 1988, the federal government through the Department of Health and Human Services came up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) guidelines which required that those working for the government be regularly and randomly tested for drugs (Fogoros, 2018) . Although there are several amendments that have been done to the guidelines, they are still operational to date.
Need for Government Drug Testing
While presenting its case to the courts before the introduction of the policy, the government argued that drug testing was justified since the integrity and official’s judgment of public office was incompatible with the unlawful use of drugs. Discharging of public functions, including the government fight against drugs, was being placed in jeopardy by drug use since the public confidence in elected and employed government officials were being undermined.
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Requirements for Government Drug Testing
Government drug testing tends to be limited by constitutional considerations. Although there are guidelines that cater for the tests, drug testing falls under the Fourth Amendment which states that one needs a probable cause and a search warrant before lawfully searching any citizen (Governmental Employee Drug Testing - The Constitutional Issues, 2018) . Drug tests on government employees are therefore done randomly and, most of the time, an employee raises drug usage suspicion.
Impact of Government Drug Testing
The drug testing guidelines were introduced in order to curb drug-related cases in government institutions which had become rampant at that time. It is worthwhile mentioning that the government has managed to achieve its goal as the number of such cases took a dip and have remained low ever since the policy was introduced. This means that service delivery by government employees has become more reliable and efficient.
References
Fogoros, R. N. (2018, June 13). Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing . Retrieved December 6, 2018, from verywellmind: https://www.verywellmind.com/new-rules-for-federal-workplace-drug-testing-63813
Governmental Employee Drug Testing - The Constitutional Issues . (2018, December 6). Retrieved from County Technical Assistance Service: http://eli.ctas.tennessee.edu/reference/governmental-employee-drug-testing-constitutional-issues
