President Orders Federal Drug Tests : Plan Could Affect 1 Million Workers; Funds Sought to Step Up Enforcement

President Reagan, declaring that the federal workplace should be “a model” in his campaign against drugs, signed an executive order Monday requiring drug testing for federal employees in “sensitive positions” that could affect as many as 1.1 million of the government’s 2.8 million civilian workers.

The President’s sweeping order outlaws the use of drugs “on or off duty” by federal employees and says that the U.S. government “can and should show the way towards achieving drug-free workplaces” through mandatory testing and the dismissal of workers who test positive more than once.

“This is the federal government’s way of just saying no,” Reagan said in a brief signing ceremony, borrowing the “just say no” slogan from First Lady Nancy Reagan’s crusade against drugs.

Drug-Free America Act

In addition, Reagan sent a legislative package to Congress entitled the Drug-Free America Act of 1986 that calls for $894 million in new spending for fiscal 1987, which begins Oct. 1. More than half the money is designated for stepped-up law enforcement, including the purchase of radar airplanes and radar balloons to detect narcotics traffickers along the Mexican border.

Another $100 million would fund anti-drug efforts in the nation’s schools and $239 million would be allocated for treatment centers, drug prevention and research. Because of budgetary restraints, all of the money will be shifted from existing programs.

Education Secretary William J. Bennett told a news conference that funds to fight drugs in schools would be shifted from programs that now aid college students. Responding to congressional critics who charge that the Administration is not spending enough to effectively battle drug abuse, Bennett said: “No amount of money can buy resolve.”

Reagan’s long-awaited anti-drug package comes on the heels of a House-passed version last week that is estimated to cost $2 billion, more than twice what the Administration is asking.

The two bills contain similarly punitive measures against drug traffickers. Both seek the death penalty for those who commit murder in a drug-related crime and both would set aside the so-called “exclusionary rule” to allow the use of illegally obtained evidence in drug crimes if the law enforcement officer acted “in an objectively reasonable belief” that he was within constitutional guidelines.

Omits Military Role

The Administration, however, stopped short of endorsing a House provision to use the military to seal the Southwest border. Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger called the proposal to send in troops “pretty absurd.” Defense officials have argued that joining the war on drugs could reduce military combat readiness substantially.

But Reagan’s decision to order widespread drug testing for government workers drew the most fire. Federal employee unions denounced it as an unwarranted intrusion into privacy and civil libertarians assailed it as a violation of the Bill of Rights.

Allan Adler, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, attacked the drug-testing proposal as “a blatant violation of the right of American workers to be free of search and seizure without probable cause.” He said that the ACLU is prepared to defend federal employees who do not wish to be tested. “No American should have to prove that he or she is not a drug user,” Adler said.

Robert Tobias, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 120,000 workers in the Customs Service and Internal Revenue Service, called the order a “punitive dragnet” and accused Reagan of being the “hangman of federal workers.” Tobias’ union already has filed a court challenge on the constitutionality of drug testing as a condition for promotion within the Customs Service.

Administration officials voiced concern that the controversy over testing would overshadow other aspects of the President’s program. “This whole thing is in danger of being engulfed by a rising tide of bureaucratic urine,” said one top official, who did not wish to be identified.

Reagan’s Ground Rules

Under the ground rules set by Reagan’s executive order, individual agency heads within the government will decide which employees in “sensitive positions” should be subject to drug testing. For example, workers whose jobs could affect public health and safety or national security would be candidates for the tests.

Before any tests are given, employees will be given 60 days’ notice. After that 60-day “grace period”--to encourage drug users to seek counseling--the tests will be administered on a random basis to discourage attempts to falsify the results.

If an employee tests positive on a first test, he will be offered counseling. After a second positive test, he will face discipline or dismissal.

No Estimate Given

Reagan’s anti-drug package allocates $56 million for the Administration’s testing program, a substantial sum that would easily allow massive screening and follow-up for the 1.1 million workers that could potentially come under the order. White House officials refused to estimate the number of those employees who would be affected because of the wide latitude among agency heads over who would be tested.

Dr. Carlton Turner, the White House adviser on drugs, said Administration studies show that between 12% and 23% of the nation’s work force has a problem with drug abuse. These same studies indicate that 67% of drug abusers in the workplace will stop if they are faced with possible detection, Turner said.

Times staff writer Lee May contributed to this story.

ACLU sues Glendale over city’s drug-test policy. Part II, Page 1.