Substance Abuse Policy Adaptation in Florida Municipal Government
Drug abuse is one of America's major public policy concerns. Problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse have not escaped America's workforce. Public sector human resource managers, like their counterpart in private industry, are faced with the challenge of developing policies that protect the interests of their organization while preserving the rights of those they employ or seek to consider for employment. This article examines emerging substance abuse policy in Florida municipal governments. A model of substance abuse policy development is presented and then assessed based on data collected in 1988 and 1990. The research indicates that Florida cities are progressing beyond the application of drug testing towards rehabilitative intervention and educational awareness initiatives.
Developing a Drug Testing Policy at a Public University: Participant Perspectives
Employee drug testing has been around for more than 30 years. The practice was embraced by private employers early on and is now widespread, particularly among larger companies. The development of drug testing programs in the public sector, however, has been slower and more deliberate due to constitutional law constraints, and perhaps also to a more democratic, convoluted decision-making process. Intensity of interest in drug testing has long subsided with respect to the literature; there are, nevertheless, compelling reasons to revisit this issue. Much of the past literature focuses on drug testing in the private sector, and where public-sector issues were broached (primarily from the legal/constitutional perspective), many have not been resolved. Moreover, many issues confronted by public policymakers have not been identified or adequately discussed. Also, most treatment in the literature has been academic and explicit, whereas analysis in this article is more anecdotal and implicit. Increasingly, policymakers are finding value in qualitative analysis of this type of data, as such analysis fills in gaps and guides utilization of the more explicit data. This is especially true of policymakers in the public sector who are keenly aware that decision making in this arena is often a politically- or socially-sensitive process, and that the hard data alone is insufficient to assist them.
Preparation courses for a medical admissions test: effectiveness contrasts with opinion
Objectives  The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test (UMAT) is used to rank applicants for admission to many medical schools. This study aimed to determine the effects of preparation courses on UMAT performance and on students’ perceptions of their performance.