Drug testing is one of the most effective ways for retail employers to screen job applicants and protect the company from losses due to employee drug abuse and absenteeism. Properly administered drug-testing programs not only have proven to be cost-effective mechanisms for pre-employment screening, but have also been upheld by the courts. Other means of determining whether or not employees use drugs, such as background checks, polygraph tests, and observation, are not as reliable as drug testing; and, in the case of the polygraph test, may be prohibited by law. An on-site drug test produces rapid, documentable results. On-site drug tests act as an initial screen that provides immediate and final results on negative specimens. Only positive test results, a small percentage of samples, are sent to the laboratory for confirmation. On-site testing provides flexibility as to where testing is conducted, and it increases the deterrent effect of testing, because the time between results and consequences is decreased. The test should, at a minimum perform at the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) cut-off levels for drug detection. The test should be documentable and easy to use and have undergone an independent, scientific clinical evaluation performed by a laboratory that is certified by NIDA. Chain-of-custody procedures must be carefully followed for each sample. 28 footnotes