SHOULD DEFENDANTS BE FORCED TO TAKE A PHARMACEUTICAL TEST?

Should defendants be forced to take a drug test?



Should defendants be forced to take a drug test?

Should defendants be forced to take a drug test? Are pretrial programs productive in decreasing malfunction to emerge rates and pretrial crime? Are pretrial drug-testing programs ineffective because they are founded on defective assumptions? These three inquiries need to be answered for one to fully realise pretrial pharmaceutical checking programs, and if defendants should be compelled to take a pharmaceutical check or not. This paper will interpret this issue and why defendants should not be compelled to take drug tests.

Ineffective Based of Faulty Assumptions

Requiring pretrial drug testing has become a widely used practice; however, according to Neubauer, (2006) several studies find that at best pretrial drug testing programs have limited success. The reason for their limited success is that the programs are based on faulty assumptions, and are therefore ineffective. The first assumption is that pretrial drug testing programs reduce failure to appear rates, second is that they reduce pretrial misconduct.

Reducing pretrial misconduct. According to Henry and Clark, (1992), pretrial drug-testing programs are based on two assumptions. The first assumption is that obtaining the knowledge that a defendant uses drugs through a drug test at the time of his or her arrest allows for the prediction of pretrial misconduct. Second, monitoring defendants' pretrial drug use will reduce the risk of pretrial misconduct.

However, pretrial drug-testing programs do not help predict if a defendant will be rearrested while out on bail. According to Neubauer, (2006) the best "predictor" was the number of "prior arrests, and not drug use." For instance, repeat offenders who test negative for drug use are more likely to commit a crime while out on bail than a first-time offender who tested positive for drugs (Rhodes, Hyatt, and Scheiman, as cited in Neubauer, 2006).

Expensive Testing Options and Their Expenses

Besides being ineffective, another reason defendants should not be forced to take drug tests is that it is too expensive. Because the programs are ineffective, the drug tests are a waste of money and resources that could be used for something else. Several options are available for drug testing. With each option comes a different cost, however, all are expensive.

In-house Analyzer-based Testing Facility. Pretrial drug testing programs that use in-house analyzer based testing can pay on average $1 to test one urine specimen for a single ...