American Samoa's Governor says legislation will be introduced to make drug testing mandatory for certain employees of the executive branch.
Togiola Tulafono says that the use of drugs by government employees is a concern but it is impractical to order drug testing because of the costs involved.
He says that because there is no certified lab in the territory to analyse test results, it's costly to send the tests to mainland labs.
He says there are plans to introduce a limited drug testing program for employees with law enforcement responsibilities.
He's hopeful that a law will be enacted before the end of the year to require police, customs, immigration, and agricultural quarantine officers to be subjected to drug testing.
Two weeks ago, an immigration agent was charged with possession of controlled substance with intent to distribute after he turned up at the Post Office to claim a package that contained more than $10,000 worth of methamphetamine.
