John E. Bissell, a former California undercover narcotics investigator who now runs a Portland drug-screening lab, thinks he might be able to help landlords keep drug criminals out of Portland's 89,000 rental units. Bissell, president of Analytical Laboratory Systems Inc., says it's been tried in Florida with success and could work in Portland, where the hot line at the police Drugs and Vice Division rings as many as 50 times a day with tips from people who suspect their neighbors of dealing and manufacturing narcotics. Forty-three meth labs, many in rentals, were discovered in Portland in the last year alone. Few, if any, private landlords use drug-screening in Portland, for reasons of cost and privacy. And if they do apply and test positive for illegal substances, the landlord can reject them without further consideration, he said.
Negative tests give the landlord an immediate green-light to rent.
All positive tests are sent to another certified lab for confirmation, which Bissell said has a reliability of 100 percent and can turn around results in 24 hours. Those results are reviewed again by a medical officer, who investigates to determine whether the positive result could have been caused by a legal substance such as a prescription drug. Property experts say it's legal for landlords to require a drug test of prospective tenants, provided they require it of all prospective tenants so as not to discriminate. But not everyone agrees that drug screening is the answer. They also can call references, verify employment and ask to see the applicant's photo identification.