Technological innovations and organizational controls have allowed drug testing to meet the necessary standards of accuracy and reliability to protect workers from false accusations of drug use. Improvements in drug testing's accuracy and reliability led more employers to implement testing programs; the result was an expansion of the drug- testing industry. With assistance from the Federal government and the media, this industry has stimulated employers' interest in controlling workers' drug use, although their decisions to implement testing programs have probably been based less on a commitment to the war on drugs than on their belief that doing so served their economic interests. By agreeing to test workers, employers have become part of the country's drug control apparatus. Compared with criminal justice controls, workplace drug testing has the capacity to expand almost infinitely, with much of its cost borne by the private sector. By requiring people, as a condition of their employment, to prove they are drug-free, workplace drug testing programs can achieve a level of control over drug users that criminal justice controls cannot. Reference notes