NCJ Number
143744
Journal
Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1993 Pages: 38-40
Date Published
May 1993
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Urinalysis will not solve all the problems of supervising offenders in correctional institutions or the community in Canada, and its legitimate use requires procedures that are both fair and balanced.
Abstract
Correctional personnel must also become aware of the limitations of urinalysis before any constructive use of it can occur. Canadian law currently permits the use of urinalysis through voluntary or consensual testing, following a demand on an inmate based on reasonable grounds to believe that the inmate has consumed a drug, as part of a random selection program, as a requirement for participating in an activity involving community contact or in a drug treatment program, or for monitoring compliance with release condition of abstinence from drugs. Involuntary urinalysis is usually considered to be a search and seizure. Therefore, challenges to legislation authorizing urinalysis programs in the workplace and in the management of offenders are expected to be based on sections 7 and 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantee the security of a person and protection from unreasonable search. Because of the potential legal impacts, corrections managers must be aware of the proper procedures and circumstances for the use of urinalysis in corrections management. Footnotes