Drug Testing

Every year in the United States, a significant number of individuals undergo both voluntary and nonvoluntary drug testing. Drug testing within the United States has had a short history beginning in the 19th century with development of observational drug screening methods. Contemporary drug tests have advanced from early observational techniques to biochemical tests that use a number of bodily samples including urine, oral fluids, hair, blood, and sweat. Although the purpose behind drug testing in different industries may vary, the general aim of such testing is to protect both the individual being testing along with the general public from the harms that may ensue while one is under the influence of alcohol or an illicit substance that may interfere with normal functioning.

A general understanding of the purpose and history of drug testing in the United States is important to the study of drug policy as this strategy of social control presents numerous implications for the field of drug policy from issues concerning invasive testing procedures and the constitutionality of drug testing by various social institutions.

Drug testing has been conducted in the United States since the 19th century. Using observational techniques, the earliest human drug screens involved [Page 238]examining the extent to which pupil dilation could be attributed to the use of narcotics, a class of drugs containing natural or synthetic opiates and used for their analgesic effects. A similarly unsophisticated observational technique to determine alcohol use was listening for slurred speech. These observational techniques are examples of early drug screens. Drug screening is a method of evaluating substance use and often involves the qualitative analysis of a sample to determine whether particular drugs are present. In contrast to drug screening, drug testing is a more precise method of evaluating substance use that uses a quantitative analysis of body tissue or fluids to determine the concentration of a particular substance in an individual. Despite the difference in methods, both drug screening and drug testing seek to determine whether an individual is or has been under the influence of either alcohol or an illicit substance and the extent to which this influence has the potential to interfere with normal human functioning.

The drug testing methods used in the United States today have greatly surpassed the archaic observational methods of the past. The first biochemical drug test was developed in the 1920s during the days of Prohibition and identified the presence of alcohol in the human body. The purpose of such testing was to establish whether alcohol was being produced and sold to the general public. Positive results were proof of a violation of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that forbade the production and sale of alcohol. Alcohol testing was performed using samples of either blood or breath. Breath tests were possible due to the fast metabolism of alcohol that is instantaneously expelled by the lungs. The highly invasive nature of blood tests for alcohol was soon recognized and a new, less invasive technology was developed in the 1930s to be used by law enforcement. This portable technology enabled police officers to detect alcohol use by motor vehicle operators.

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