ter for Disease Control, urinalysis, the most common type of drug testing, is plagued with inaccurate results. Labs have detected cocaine in 6 percent of urine samples and as much as 37 percent of samples have tested positive for amphetamines, when in reality these samples were clean. According to the New England Law Review, various over the counter drugs may give false readings. David B Kopel writes in his article “Drug Testing: Shaky Science May Nullify Good Intentions,” that Ibuprofin present in any drug store medicine can test positive for marijuana. Advil or Midol may test the same way. Dristan, Vicks Nasal Spray and other nasal sprays can test positive for amphetamines. Some antibiotics may turn up as cocaine when being tested (Drug testing:Shaky…3). Also, poppy seeds have often shown up as heroin on drug tests. Even natural enzymes present in the body can test positive for traces of marijuana. Why don’t companies switch to a more accurate form of testing, one that is less open to specimen contamination? A higher tech method would cost more money.Drug testing can be a humiliating experience, as employees are made to feel like criminals. The individual is closely watched as they urinate into a cup. The restroom has no running water and the toilet is filled with a type of treated water. This is all done so the individual is unable to cheat their way through the test. At the same time that these companies are ensuring truthfulness they are demoralizing and degrading their employees. A woman who wrote the ACLU said that she “was led into a very small room with a toilet, sink, and desk… given a container in which to urinate in by an attendant…. who bent down to watch…. Nothing I have ever done equals or deserves the humiliation, degradation, and mortification I felt” (Drug Testing: A Bad Investment:18). Timing is a major factor in drug tests. An employee walks into w...
