Nobody would object to drug and alcohol testing of " safety critical staff ". We would want to be absolutely sure that the person who drives our train to work, or flies the plane taking us to Bali was cold sober or not withdrawing from a drug binge.
It seems that random testing is now being extended to " all staff " by some companies, and that includes the people on the order phones, secretaries - the guy who mows the lawns - and even the tea lady.
There is a real danger that this can lead to a privacy invasion resulting in promotional opportunities being compromises - simply because a person has shown signs of recreational drug use or a harmless one-off indulgence with alcohol.
A career could be blighted because a family birthday celebration resulted in a few drinks more than usual - or a person on holiday smoked a joint to see what this Marijuana thing was all about !
A full license holder must stay under 0.05 to legally drive a car. A " safety critical " person must be under 0.02 to work, but does this mean that an office worker is " unreliable " if he or she has a reading somewhere in that range ?
Marijuana stays in the blood for up to three weeks. This is detectable, but has long lost potency. There is a real danger that a " wowser " boss would discriminate against an employee because of a personal objection to what most people consider to be " a normal lifestyle ".
What may seem a " good idea " can have unexpected consequences. Perhaps a blanket test for all employees is not fair unless it also contains a scale under which any minor reading is shown as a negative.
Otherwise, a person well within legal limits can suffer discrimination !
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