Why is it not constitutional for one group in this great country but constitutional for another group I've got sick 3 times from getting drug tested . Haven't ever failed one yet in 37 years and I wonder what the true numbers are in the trucking industry.
Not the government BS.
The reason it is constitutional for one group (several, actually) and not others is because the Supreme Court has carved out several exceptions to the 4th Amendment's illegal search clause. Normally under the 4th Amendment, probable cause and a warrant are generally required for government searches, but because public safety outweighs the personal liberty of those engaged in certain activities who's improper performance can have immediate, serious and irreversible consequences for others (such as airline personnel including pilots and mechanics, truck drivers, maritime and river ship personnel, nuclear power workers, certain railroad and mass transit employees, and employees who handle pipelines carrying natural gas or hazardous substances), those who engage in these regulated industries must waive certain constitutional rights. You have a right to personal liberty and due process under the 5th and 14th Amendments, but not if those rights puts the public in danger.
According to Quest Diagnostics, a diagnostic information services firm who tracks these things, the actual numbers amongst the general population where employers do drug testing 3.7 percent failure rate in 2013, compared with a rate of 3.5 in 2012, a relative increase of more than 5 percent. This is the first time the rate of positive tests has gone up since 2003. Hair tests also saw a significant increase, with 7.4 percent of the 190,000 tests being positive. That 's a relative increase of nearly 25 percent from 2013.
For truckers, 1,240 drivers failed drug tests in 2013, up from 1,139 in 2012. And, 2,095 drivers failed alcohol tests in 2013, down from 2,494 violations in 2012. Both alcohol and drug failure rates among truckers represent less-than one percent failure rate, well below the general population.
This all began in 1980 when a survey of US military personnel revealed 27% had used illegal drugs within 30 days of taking the survey. A drug testing program was put in place and 5 years later drug use was down to 5 percent in the military. Three years after that, when they tweaked the system to largely what it is in trucking now, it was down to 3.5 percent. In 1986, Ronald Reagan issued an Executive Order mandating a drug-free federal workforce (lead by example, that sort of thing). A year later Congress legislated it, and then specific rules for testing and procedures were legislated, and then in 1988, the US DOT issued rules to require drug-free workplace programs through its six operating administrations: 1) Federal Highway Administration; 2) Federal Railroad Administration; 3) U.S. Coast Guard; 4) Federal Aviation Administration; 5) Urban Mass Transportation Administration; and 5) Research and Special Programs Administration.
Those first couple or three years saw test failure rates among truckers, railroad and airline personnel along the same lines as the early military, of well in excess of 20 percent (mostly amphetamines but others, of course). Since then the rate has fallen dramatically, to less than 1 percent for truckers and railroad personnel, and even lower for airline personnel.
Trucking companies are required to test all new hires, as well as conduct annual random testing of 10 percent of their current drivers for alcohol and 50 percent for drugs.
