National Football League players and management agreed in 1982 on mandatory preseason urinalysis and further testing by club physicians if reasonable cause exists to do so. Seminars are also provided to educate players about the legal and medical risks of drug abuse. Players have argued over the issue of reasonable cause. Currently, baseball has a random drug testing program for minor leagues, winter leagues, and front-office personnel. Union involvement is crucial to baseball's program, and drug testing clauses have increasingly been included in renegotiated, long-term contracts. In basketball, tests identify only heroin and cocaine. The program includes three categories: dismissal of players convicted of or pleading guilty to drug law offenses, treatment paid by teams for players voluntarily seeking help for their drug problems, and a review of a suspected drug abuser by an independent expert. The turbulent efforts to establishing drug testing programs for athletes offer useful lessons for other business organizations. Among these are the inclusion of all levels of organizational employees and the restriction of testing to drugs clearly defined as dangerous. Efforts to curb the problem must be approached especially carefully in a unionized organization. In both union and nonunion settings, employees should be consulted and informed of potential and actual drug testing policies and actions. Confidentiality and procedural issues also require attention. Photographs and 25 references