Drug testing for most state employees

Nevada would begin mandatory drug testing of most new state employees, under terms of a proposal that state Personnel Director Jeanne Greene is submitting to the 2007 Legislature.

If the plan is approved, the state would make conditional job offers to employees contingent on them passing a drug test. Employees not presently covered under Department of Personnel rules, including elected officials, legislative and judicial branch workers, and college and university professors and top management, would be exempt.

Currently, Nevada requires drug tests only for state jobs that involve public safety or require a commercial driver's license.

Greene said Wednesday the proposal will bring the state into line with a growing trend in the private sector, citing statistics that most large private employers use drug screening. The department is working on a survey of public employers that use drug screening, but it is not yet complete.

"We're one of the very few entities that does not do drug testing," said Greene. "We are finding that employees that are not able to pass a drug test for other entities are coming to the state."

Aldo Vennettilli of the State of Nevada Employees Association said he has discussed the proposal with Greene and doesn't oppose pre-employment drug testing. But he questioned the program's expense and methodology.

"I would hope they would do it fair," said Vennettilli. "Obviously, there are slip-ups in the labs. The only concern I have is, here goes the state spending more money when they don't have the money to pay their employees now."

Greene estimated the cost of the testing to be $100,000 annually. Each year, an average of 2,700 new state employees are hired in the covered categories. Currently, only about 700 of those are drug tested.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, who questioned Greene during the budget hearing on Jan. 25, said she was concerned in the rationale for the widespread testing.

"I'm not necessarily opposed, but it raises questions for me," said Leslie. "Is this really the standard practice now? And how well does it work?"

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the ACLU of Nevada, said that the legality of large-scale drug testing programs often depends on the details, such as how the information is safeguarded.

"In certain kinds of positions, driving heavy machinery or flying airplanes, there is reasonable justification," said Lichtenstein. "But to do blanket drug testing really doesn't make a whole lot of sense in terms of public safety. The fact that they have carved out the exceptions that they have simply reinforces our view that this is not about public safety."

Greene said the testing could save the state a lot of money because workers with drug problems end up costing their employers a great deal.

"The cost in absenteeism and worker-related injuries is very high," said Greene.