The Nation : Maryland Bars Drug Testing

Maryland Atty. Gen. Stephen Sachs ruled that mandatory drug testing of state employees is unconstitutional and said that civil liberties cannot be sacrificed in the war on drugs. Sachs, in an opinion for Secretary of Personnel John O’Brien, said mandatory drug testing of most state employees would violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and added there must be “probable cause” before ordering most state employees to take a urinalysis test. “A war on drugs is a good idea,” Sachs said, “but not if its first casualty is the Bill of Rights.”