Drug Testing is an increasingly big business. At least fifteen large North American corporations supplying laboratory testing, employees and others are only a few minutes' drive from a testing facility. Employers use Drug Testing as a pre-employment screening tool and parents who want to keep tabs on the well being of their teenagers, are only a couple of the many groups that frequently use Drug Testing as a screening mechanism.

Since the mid-1980's, Drug Testing has become an increasingly common practice. Usually the group that is tested most often is prospective employees. There is a reason for this, employees can use dangerous equipment like heavy machineri or have access to sensitive information; their employers want to be certain that their employees are not drug abusers.

Amongst all the Drug Testing methods, the most controversial is the random drug test. Employers have the legal authority to request the Drug Testing of their employees whether or not they actually have a reasonable suspicion. Thanks to this legal authority, many companies have implemented a policy of completely random Drug Testing. Random Drug Testing is much like a lottery, if your name is selected then it is your turn for random Drug Testing; the employees have little or no advanced warning in these cases, that is why it is called random Drug Testing.

The employers exercise this right to administer random Drug Testing pretty often, since this is a way to determine whether or not one or more employees are drug users; on-the-job accidents, health problems and absenteeism are often-times blamed on drug use in the workplace. Many companies claim that random Drug Testing is more effective in finding the drug users within their workforce despite the fact that many companies already require pre-employment drug screening. The problem with pre-employment drug screening is that the employee will often have at least a few hours of advance warning and could therefore attempt to take measures that will allow him or her to "cheat" on the test. There are many products available that will help drug users to pass drug screenings. These products range from synthetic urine agents that will mask the appearance of a particular drug to various other methods that a drug abuser could use to beat the tests.

The large part of random Drug Testing takes place in settings in which drug use could prove to be hazardous to the well being of others. Two prime examples are factories and warehouses these are places that often have random Drug Testing policies and where individuals under the influence can cause serious accidents. Fork-lift drivers for example, who were under the influence, have often caused very serious and occasionally fatal accidents in the workplace. Individuals that abuse drugs and who work with heavy machinery or on an assembly line will run the risk of injuring themselves or their co-workers. Random Drug Testing will usually produce quick and accurate results and some employers have kits for Drug Testing available on site, where a simple swab sample from the mouth can give an immediate positive or negative result.

Despite the arguments against random Drug Testing, employers have the right to request drug screenings whenever they see fit; indeed it is in the employee's best interest to abstain from drug use whether on the job or not. Although privacy advocates suggest that random Drug Testing is a breach of an employee's right to privacy, the employers will use this method if they deem necessary. However this is a debate that will likely continue into the future.

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