Government employees go to work, do their jobs, pay their bills and contribute to their communities just like anyone else. There is no suggestion that government workers use drugs more than the public at large so to single them out for government searches is unnecessary, expensive and offensive.

The US Supreme Court [official website] handed down a decision in January regarding background checks into federal contract employees' possible past drug use and their impact on Fifth Amendment rights. In NASA v. Nelson [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report], the court upheld that NASA's background investigation into whether a federal contract employee has received counseling or treatment for illegal drug use did not violate the employee's constitutional right to informational privacy under the Fifth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit held that the background checks did violate this right, but the Supreme Court reversed [JURIST report], stating that the government has an interest in conducting basic employment background checks to ensure "the security of its facilities and in employing a competent, reliable work-force."