An Analysis of Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs

Figure 1.3Trends in Current Illicit Drug and Heavy Alcohol Use Among Persons Age 18-49, by Employment Status

Note: Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on five or more occasions in the previous 30 days.

full-time workers. The distribution of heavy alcohol users was similar: about 9 percent of all heavy alcohol users were unemployed, but over 77 percent were full-time workers. These percentages indicate that almost six million out of an estimated 8.6 million current illicit drug users were employed full-time in 1994. Moreover, about 6.6 million out of an estimated eight-and-a-half million heavy alcohol users were employed full-time in 1994.

Figure 1.3 shows trends in current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use among the three employment categories. Although in each year full-time and part-time workers were less likely than the unemployed to report current illicit drug use, there was a significant decrease in current illicit drug use in each employment category from 1985 to 1994. However, the percentage of use among full-time workers remained between seven and eight percent from 1991 to 1994. Heavy alcohol use changed little over the 10-year period shown in Figure 1.3, although there was a significant increase from 1990 to 1991 among the unemployed, and use among this group remained above 10 percent through 1994.

Finally, Figure 1.4 brings the nature of the problem of worker drug use into sharper focus. The charts in this figure assess a number of relevant workplace outcomes that have been shown in previous research to be associated with drug use (see Hoffmann et al., 1996; National Research Council, 1994; Newcomb, 1988). Addressing full-time workers age 18-49 only, the results suggest that those reporting current illicit drug use were more likely than those reporting no current illicit drug use to have worked for three or more employers in the past year (32.1% vs. 17.9%), taken an unexcused absence from work in the past month (12.1% vs. 6.1%), voluntarily left an employer in the past year (25.8% vs. 13.6%), and been fired by an employer in the past year (4.6% vs. 1.4%). A comparison of those reporting heavy alcohol use and those reporting no heavy alcohol use yielded similar results: the former were more likely than the latter to have worked for three or more employers in the past year (27.1% vs. 18.1%), taken an unexcused absence from work in the past month (10.9% vs. 6.2%), voluntarily left an employer in the past year (21.7% vs. 13.7%), and been fired in the past year (3.6% vs. 1.4%). The differences observed for missing work due to illness or injury were not statistically significant. Those reporting current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use appeared to be slightly more likely to have been involved in a workplace accident in the past year, although the observed differences were not statistically significant.

These results suggest that current illicit drug and heavy alcohol use among U.S. workers deserve the attention of policy makers, employers, and the general public. A substantial number of full-time workers age 18-49 engage in current illicit drug and heavy alcohol use. The data presented in thischapter imply that illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use by full-time workers may affect workplace behaviors and economic productivity.

This page was last updated on June 03, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.