Urinalysis allows for an objective measure of an offender's use of drugs.

It reduces the reliance on the offender to report drug use and provides the treatment and criminal justice systems with a tool to ensure that treatment and criminal justice systems are grounded in objective information. While many systems test offenders, few systems have policies that use drug test results to decide which offenders are of the highest priority for treatment programs. Even fewer systems have policies in effect that provide guidelines on how to handle positive drug tests while the offender is in treatment or under supervision. Treatment placement and program compliance are two areas in which drug-testing information can be tied to reducing recidivism. Active drug-using offenders should be prioritized for treatment, with their continued drug use sanctioned through consequences and changes in their supervision and treatment plans. Recidivism reduction policies would direct that these offenders be monitored more closely to reduce their risk to the community.

The Department of Justice's recent requirement that offenders be tested for drugs provides an outline of many pertinent issues related to drug testing that need immediate policy and operational attention. At a minimum, treatment and criminal justice agencies need to consider the overall use of testing in the system. For example,