Financial viability of screening for drugs of abuse

Urine drug testing is now a common practice in the American workplace; a recent survey indicated that > 90% of companies with > 5000 employees have some type of testing program. These programs have indeed reduced the rate of drug-positive test results; for example, recent data from the Federal Aviation Agency show that the rate for 1993 was 0.82% compared with 0.95% for 1992. Many corporations have stated that urine drug testing, as a component of a substance abuse policy, results in significant savings, e.g., from decreased absenteeism and turnover. The United States Postal Service recently completed a longitudinal study on the economic benefits and found that, over the average tenure of an annual intake of employees, there were savings of more than $100 million. Although this study clearly demonstrates the financial benefits of preemployment drug testing, the decision to test is not based solely on this but also on the regulatory environment and on the potential impact of a major accident attributable to the use of drugs or alcohol in the workplace.