
Bayes' rule in Haskell, or why drug tests don't work - iamwil
http://www.randomhacks.net/articles/2007/02/22/bayes-rule-and-drug-tests
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rms
Drug tests are my favorite example of corporations creating practical law. At
this point in America, personal consumption of illicit drugs is effectively
legal because of the unenforceability of drug laws thanks to our right to
privacy. If you work for a major corporation drugs become illegal because
insurance companies mandate pre-employment drug testing. The actuaries can
easily show this lowers how often they have to pay for rehab.

For the article itself, the author doesn't make much of a point about the
inaccuracy of drug tests because he made up the 99% percent accuracy figure.
Drug tests are more accurate than that because all positive results are
retested with a more expensive, more accurate test.

