Poll Shows 60% Back On-the-Job Drug Tests

WASHINGTON — Sixty percent of American workers favor on-the-job drug testing, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday by a corporate group that said the results give “a green light” to increased employer testing.

The survey, done by the Gallup Organization for a newly formed organization of 14 large corporations concerned about employers’ rights, found that workers tended to support some programs over others.

For example, 51% of the 1,007 employees polled indicated that companies should have the right to randomly test any employee for drug use. Support rose to 70% for testing employees “suspected of drug usage.”

On the broadest question, 60% of the sample said that they favored their company’s adopting some sort of drug-testing policy. Not counted were 9% whose employers already have such a program. Support for testing was strongest from workers in rural areas, those 55 and older and those with an education of high school or less.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.