Federal Law
The drug testing movement began in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12564, requiring all federal employees to refrain from using illegal drugs, on or off duty, as a condition of federal employment.
Two years later, Congress passed the Drug Free Workplace Act (D.F.W.A.) of 1988.
This spawned federal mandatory guidelines for federal workplace drug testing programs (Section 503 of PUBLIC LAW 100-71).
These rules apply to executive agencies of the federal government (with the exception of the President), the uniformed services (again, there are exceptions), and contractors/service providers who are under contract with the federal government (again, more exceptions).
Although the D.F.W.A. only applies to federal employees, many states and local governments followed suit and adopted similar programs under state laws and drug free workplace programs.
