[D]rug testing invades privacy and bodily autonomy. Drug testing by means of urinalysis is humiliating for many people, and embarrassing or unpleasant for many others. Drug testing in the absence of individualized suspicion is stigmatizing: it creates a presumption of guilt that can only be rebutted by a negative test result.
Just yesterday, in response to opposition, the CHA dropped the proposed drug testing from its revised tenants agreement (Read the ACLU response).
Today, the Workforce, Development, and Audit Committee of the Chicago City Council followed suit, cancelling a meeting scheduled to consider a proposal to begin random drug testing of all city employees and elected officials. Mary Dixon, Legislative Director of the ACLU of Illinois, sent a letter to the committee outlining the problems with such a proposal:“The City of Chicago faces myriad challenges and few resources for addressing them,” added Dixon. “Suspicionless drug testing for 35,000 City employees does not a