An Iowa Senate committee has voted to let Iowa businesses get hair samples from employees, to test for possible drug use. Iowa law already lets companies demand blood or urine samples from workers, for random drug tests. Seven Republicans on the panel voted to advance the bill to the full senate Senator Michael Breitbach is a Republican from Strawberry Point.
Four Democrats on the committee voted no, arguing hair retains evidence of drug use for months, even years. Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, says hair sometimes has a “long history.”
Breitbach, the bill’s manager, says the industry standard is to test a hair sample that’s an inch and a half long — which would reveal potential drug use for up to three months.
