THE FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM OF MANDATORY DRUG-TESTING

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 required the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to establish a demonstration program of mandatory drug testing of criminal defendants in eight Federal judicial districts. The program began January 1, 1989. To the extent feasible, drug testing was to be completed prior to the defendant's initial appearance before a judge or magistrate judge and the results of the test were to be included in the pretrial services report presented to the judicial officer. The legislation further provided that for felony offenses, it was to be an additional, mandatory condition of probation or supervised release that defendants refrain from illegal use of any controlled substances and submit to periodic drug tests for use of controlled substances at least once every 60 days. Author Timothy P. Cadigan describes the implementation of the demonstration program, discusses the on-site testing methodologies selected, and provides statistical results of the program.