# Does EVERYbody test for drugs these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536 "2009-12-01T00:14:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/61 "2009-12-30T15:49:03Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Okay, now that I’m addressing the point I should have addressed previously… > > Well, at least your language is cleaner than that of some of my American clients when they get this news. > > But to put it simply, no you don’t have that right. You can only demand a drug test if (a), you have extended a conditional offer of employment (conditional upon passing a drug test, for example); and (b), if the lack of drugs in your prospective employee’s system is a _bona fide_ occupational requirement (BFOR). You cannot state that every position in your company has a “clean drug test” as a BFOR; if you are challenged on that point and fail to prove that such is the case, you’ll end up paying heavily. > > **Northern Piper** is quite correct when he notes that Canada balances the rights of employees and employers differently than in the US. In very general terms, the idea is that there is a level playing field, and neither side is bargaining from a position of strength. **Clothahump** , your post above implies that you want and expect to bargain from a position of strength, but you couldn’t do that in Canada. Employment and human rights legislation supports this goal of a level playing field in a number of ways; among them is the “blind” hiring process, where Person X’s qualifications are the _only_ criteria used in deciding whether he or she is suited for Job Y. The system seems to work; certainly, Canadian employers end up hiring the most qualified people and Canadian employees are protected from any illegalities or rights infringements. Yes. If you hire someone and can’t tell they have a problem - then it isn’t much of a problem, is it? Or your criteria are pretty lax. Most Canadian provinces have a 30 to 90 day “probation” period, where you can determine if the employee in fact can do the job. If not -sayonara. If you have the guy work for you for 2 months and can’t tell there’s something wrong, then there’s nothing wrong. What he does evenings and the weekends is NOYFB, unless it affects his work the next day. If he’s a backslider, then he would have passed the hiring test. If he starts up after his probabtion - well that could happen to anyone, and you should be keeping your eyes open as an employer. Besides, there’s no urine test for texting on the job. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/62 "2009-12-30T16:22:02Z")
The odd thing is that they don’t test for alcohol in these “drug” tests. Sure alcohol is legal but the point of the tests is (or claims to be) to try to find people who are unsafe due to drug use at work - not to catch people who have done illegal things in the past. My wife worked for years for a beer distributor (friends still claim that is why I married her.) So many of the employees are basically truck drivers that everyone had to be tested for drugs. Makes sense, they were out on the road with huge trucks and the state didn’t want them high while they were doing it. But … they delivered beer and thought little of consuming their product while working. If a job required testing for drugs and alcohol at the beginning of a shift I could understand the practice, but most testing is of the “have you done any illegal drugs in the past month” type. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/65 "2020-02-29T16:51:48Z")
Reported ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/66 "2020-02-29T17:42:02Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Now, I gather that most employees have to prove that they are not doing drugs of any type in the privacy of their own homes on their own time, It depends very much on the specific company and industry. Obviously companies in highly regulated industries or ones where there is a potential impact to public safety are more likely to require drug tests. > [@CC](#): > > still irrelevant to most jobs. This is debatable and depends very much on the company or industry. But since you are just asking about policy and procedure, I’ll skip for now. > [@CC](#): > > Will I probably be asked to do a drug test? Depends…see above. > [@CC](#): > > Do they usually spring that on you at an interview? Usually at some point in the interview process, they usually tell you that a drug test will be required. > [@CC](#): > > Do you get any lead time to prepare, as it were? You may get a few days or weeks. Are they going to wait six months for you to go to rehab and dry out? Probably not. > [@CC](#): > > What’s the normal procedure these days? So in my experience, the procedure is as follows: You receive an offer (contingent on passing a background and drug test). You are given instructions to schedule an appointment at a drug testing center utilized by the company. This is a third party service provide by an outside vendor. At the appointed time, you go to the center, fill out some forms and pee in a cup. Your sample gets processed and you go about starting your job. > [@CC](#): > > Thanks, Dopers - and I mean that in all ways possible. You’re welcome. Stay off the drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/67 "2020-02-29T17:51:24Z")
Just a quick PSA…This thread is almost 11 years old. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/68 "2020-02-29T18:19:34Z")
Am I correct that Uber drivers, and other contractual drivers, are generally not drug tested? I spent my career as a contractor and was never tested. (AFAIK employees at those Silicon Valley companies weren’t tested either.) Then again, that was all back in the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/69 "2020-02-29T19:37:19Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Am I correct that Uber drivers, and other contractual drivers, are generally not drug tested? > > I spent my career as a contractor and was never tested. (AFAIK employees at those Silicon Valley companies weren’t tested either.) Then again, that was all back in the 20th century. Why would they be? If it wasn’t for that stupid drug free workforce nonsense to do business with the federal government, a lot fewer places would have the stupid tests. Never once had to take one when I worked in the financial markets. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/70 "2020-03-01T02:06:20Z")
Recent experience…cut my hand at work. They sent me to the in network occupational health clinic to get stitched up. Before anyone even looked at the wound, they handed me a piss cup and directed me to the urine sample restroom. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/71 "2020-03-01T02:08:50Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Recent experience…cut my hand at work. They sent me to the in network occupational health clinic to get stitched up. Before anyone even looked at the wound, they handed me a piss cup and directed me to the urine sample restroom. Did you bleed into the cup and pretend you thought that was what they wanted? ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/72 "2020-03-01T02:31:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Did you bleed into the cup and pretend you thought that was what they wanted? I almost jizzed in the cup and pretended _that_ was what they wanted. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/73 "2020-03-01T03:11:20Z")
My employer does random testing. I have been there 41 years and my retirement date is set. (202 days and a wakeup!) The random generator popped my name out two weeks ago. In our case it is driven by three of our largest clients. We have to keep records to prove our compliance ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/74 "2020-03-01T12:00:06Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > In low-level positions, drug tests are often less about drugs and more about finding the kind of employee who is compliant enough to pee in a cup with someone watching. Mostly they are more about reducing the employers legal exposure, if you’re hurt on the job and are found to have drugs in your system you may still entitled to workers compensation but if the employer doesn’t have any drug policy in place their insurance may not pay out so they end up on the hook for your medical costs and lost wages it’s even worse if you have an accident that hurts a non employee ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/75 "2020-03-01T12:30:57Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Recent experience…cut my hand at work. They sent me to the in network occupational health clinic to get stitched up. Before anyone even looked at the wound, they handed me a piss cup and directed me to the urine sample restroom. Not to accuse anyone of anything, but where I worked we would use post-accident drug tests to avoid lost time injuries. Our policy was that if you had reason to drug test someone after an accident they were suspended until the results came back. If the test was clean they were paid their full salary for the time off. So let’s say someone cut their hand requiring stitches and normally would lose three days to a lost time injury. Bad for our metrics, and, because workers compensation is only 2/3 of the worker’s base pay not great for the injured worker either. If they’re suspended until the drug test comes back we avoided a lost time injury and the worker got full pay for their time off rather than the partial payment they would have received from compensation. It was especially useful because the hourly guys worked a 12 hour swing shift where they never had more than four consecutive days scheduled and would once every four weeks have seven consecutive days off. If the drug test took long enough to get to that week a lot of healing could take place “off the clock” as it were, and even if it was during one of the other three weeks we had a good chance of at least getting to a short off for them. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/76 "2020-03-01T15:54:02Z")
With OP’s question answered (ten years ago!), I think tangential remarks are allowed. So let me relate my experience getting my very first Thai Driver’s License. One of the requirements was a certificate from a hospital attesting that I was neither a drug addict, nor mentally disordered. I showed up at the nearby government hospital and explained what I needed. They filled out the firm (volunteering “Religion: Christianity” without asking me), and sent me to the cashier. The cost of the certificate was the equivalent of 50¢ U.S. or thereabouts. After paying, I asked where I should wait to see doctor … but I was done! The health certificate attested mainly just that I had paid the 50¢ fee! (I’ve renewed my license several times since. Sometimes I see a doctor before getting the certificate [but with no blood or urine test]. Sometimes the DMV doesn’t want the certificate at all.) Meth is again a scourge in rural Thailand; drug tests are rather common, especially of teenage motorcyclists or those identified as suspicious by police. There are rumors about drug-testing foreigners for long-term visas or work permits, but no foreigner I know has been tested. ---
**Author:** ![justmeetee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@justmeetee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justmeetee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/77 "2020-03-02T20:46:21Z")
I’ve always looked at it like an intelligence test. Are you smart enough to stop or beat a simple pee test when looking for work. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/78 "2020-03-02T22:23:27Z")
Really depends on the job itself and where you are located. I think the only time I had to do any drug test at all was when I was being hired at a call center. I was only there 3 months, so I don’t know if they test at different times or not. I worked food service at a hospital - I don’t believe I was initially tested, but that was years ago, so maybe? They certainly didn’t test any other time, and I was there for about 7 years. I now work for a small communications/IT business and they never so much as mentioned drug testing. Not real surprising for a small place though, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/79 "2020-03-02T23:09:40Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Did you bleed into the cup and pretend you thought that was what they wanted? > [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I almost jizzed in the cup and pretended _that_ was what they wanted. I had a friend, in his mid 70s, who worked part time at a community center. (Mostly because his spouse wanted him out of the house, and he enjoyed helping people out.) A new manager decided that everyone should have a new drug test, for some reason. So my elderly friend had to drive to a lab to get tested. He was running late, so grabbed a jacket he hadn’t worn since on vacation. When in the bathroom with the sample jars, he happened to reach deep into the pocket of that jacket, and found … one of those tiny airline bottles of rum. So … He said he turned in 2 samples, one of which was about 50% Mexican rum. Thought he’d give the lab workers something to talk about. He said he never heard anything about it at work. Apparently his other sample passed fine. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/81 "2020-03-03T12:45:50Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Why would they be? If it wasn’t for that stupid drug free workforce nonsense to do business with the federal government, a lot fewer places would have the stupid tests. > > Never once had to take one when I worked in the financial markets. WHAT?!! Then how do they know you have ingested enough cocaine to do your job properly?!🆒.… I’ve only had to get drug tested twice. Both were big insurance companies. But other than that, I’ve worked for a lot of different jobs, many that do work with the government, airlines, banks and so on that never required drug testing. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/82 "2020-03-03T13:35:50Z")
I work (for another two weeks, anyway) for a small university. I doubt if drug testing will ever rear its head in this environment but I’ve been wrong about things before. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536/83 "2020-03-03T13:49:53Z")
I was recently rehired by my company as a contractor, and had to take a drug test within 72 hours of being notified that I needed a test. I believe that corporate policy is that all new hires are tested, but after that you are free to party down as long as you don’t show up at work high. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everybody-test-for-drugs-these-days/519536.md?page=5)