Drug testing in the workplace violates our rights and privacy. The late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said that we have the “right to be left alone.” And he was right; we the people of America have been given the privilege as stated in the Fourth Amendment to not be tested for any apparent reason. He also said that someone’s privacy is “the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.” Therefore, I believe that people should not be drug tested; because it infringes on our rights which opens the door for other random testing and invasion of our personal privacy. I also believe that drug testing is not 100% accurate, and a misleading test could lead to termination of their position in the company. Furthermore, drug testing invades our privacy by making us prove we are drug free by subjecting us to urine testing a violation of our personal lives.

              Firstly, drug tests are indeed a complete and total violation of a person’s privacy that goes against our Constitution. In particular, it violates the Fourth Amendment which states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  Drug testing is parallel to big brother watching who wants to know what we do during our private time away from the workplace.  If we allow drug testing and remain silent to the invasion of our personal rights we say in our silence we agree with the actions perpetrated against us. Martin Niemoller, a German Protestant Pastor said, “Then they came for me – And there was no one left to object.” 

              Secondly, the accuracy of drug testing is not completely reliable. There are a myriad of ways that these tests could be easily mistaken for cold medications, and even antibiotics that you have taken large amounts of. Another reason is that it is very simple to cheat on drug tests by purchasing clean urine samples.  The unreliability of drug testing can provide false positives to innocent employees.  Drug testing not only uncovers drug use in the urine but also provides other medical health issues that employees may not want revealed. 

Lastly, subjecting us to random testing at the whim of an employer violates our personal lives.  Drug testing is not the same as a dress code which may be seen as a personal violation of freedom of expressions; however a dress code does not force you to give up a specimen on the demand of your employer.   There are standards for employees to follow but if an employee’s performance is at a productive standard and doing their job then they should not be forced to a test which reveals their personal life. It is unreasonable to violate someone’s rights on the chance they may be doing drugs on their own time.

In conclusion, men and women died for our rights and these rights are being watered down daily to fit the needs of companies.  Our rights have become open to interpretation and we are no longer guaranteed certain rights if it’s beneficial to big business or the government. Therefore, in my opinion drug testing is bad because they are unreliable and ultimately misleading.