A federal appeals court has declared a random drug testing program for government workers at 28 U.S. Forest Service Job Corps centers unconstitutional.

The centers are home for at-risk youths from ages 16 to 24 from troubled environments. Residents are housed in remote rural locations and trained in various vocations.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the small number of drug use incidents among a workforce of several thousand over many years does not establish a serious problem, much less an immediate crisis necessitating expansion of a random drug testing policy.

The court said the government has offered a solution in search of a problem.