Book Review: Tunnell, K. D. (2004). Pissing on Demand: Workplace Drug Testing and the Rise of the Detox Industry. New York: New York University Press, pp. 155

• Published date: 01 December 2007
• Date: 01 December 2007
• Author: H.H.A. Cooper
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310653
• Subject Matter: Articles

and executing a major terrorist attack much more difficult, there may not be sufficient trust in

the ability of governments to handle personal information to support his vision of a transparent

society. Many citizens would think of all the recent examples of the government mishandling

and improperly releasing personal information through lost equipment, poor database security,

e-voting problems, or simply posting personal information on open access websites as making

citizens less secure and as facilitating criminal activity. Another nagging question about the

role of the government in Bailey’s scheme is the fact that he seems to assume that the federal

government will normally make information public, yet the current administration has gone

to great lengths to reduce public access to government information.

Ultimately, despite the limitations of the text, it is thought provoking. Bailey raises perspec-

tives on privacy, anonymity, and surveillance that often go unexpressed. The issues discussed in

this book are central to all democratic societies, and every different perspective contributes

to the dialogue on these vital issues. In the current technological and political landscape,

there is a genuine need for the questioning of assumptions about the legal issues of privacy

and security that are so crucial in the present and to the future.

Paul T. Jaeger

University of Maryland

Tunnell, K. D. (2004). Pissing on Demand: Workplace Drug Testing

and the Rise of the Detox Industry. New York: New York University

Press, pp. 155

DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310653

Despite its unpromising, somewhat vulgar title, this is a serious work raising important

issues. Focusing on workplace drug testing, this serves as a foray into other, wider issues

of societal control and resistance to such measures. Resistance by those on whom such

demands are imposed is at the core of a well-presented examination of this phenomenon.

Five short chapters cover “The Emergence of Drug Testing,” “The Drug-Testing Industry,”

“The Detox Industry,” “Drug Testing as Social Monitoring and Control,” and “The Politics

of Resistance.” The book contains much material deserving of study by criminal justice

professionals and policy makers. A commendable balance throughout gives this text a

singular value. It is more of a debate than a polemic.

Chapter 1 reviews the growth of workplace drug testing from its humble, widely accepted

beginnings in safety-sensitive areas, notably transportation. Governmental actions are exam-

ined, including leading Supreme Court cases of the 1980s. The escalation of drug testing is

tabulated, concluding, “By 1986, the drug-testing industry was growing at a rate of 10%

annually, yielding increasing profits for manufacturing and testing firms” (p. 16). Much can be

attributed to assumptions fueling the so-called War on Drugs. The impressive facts presented

do not rely on interpretation for effect. Tunnell observes, “Testing as a means of social control

and as one component of the War on Drugs, likewise has expanded unabatedly” (p. 19). An

industry has grown with a substantial stake in validating the premises for expansion. The

Book Review(s) 467