A report by Quest Diagnostics http://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/physicians/health-trends/drug-testing should cause employers concern. Drug use by workers is up. The surprising news is it’s not just the states with legalized marijuana laws suffering an increase. States without marijuana use laws are also finding a roughly 5% rise in use. Cocaine and Methamphetamine use are also on the rise. While a lesser percentage of workers use the harder drugs, the percentage of hard drug use has increased faster than marijuana. A broader survey, SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), mirrors the Quest findings over the general population.
It’s not just street drug abuse going on. According to SAMSHA, prescription drugs are abused and misused more often than any other drug, except marijuana and alcohol.
What’s an employer to do?
First here are a few great government resources to consider:
SAMSHA– http://www.samhsa.gov/atod and http://www.samhsa.gov/workplace/workplace-programs
DOL Drug Free Workplace Advisor http://www.dol.gov/elaws/drugfree.htm
National Drug-Free Workplace Alliance– http://www.ndwa.org/
OSHA https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/alliances/drug_free/drug_free.html
An increasing number of businesses across the country are instituting drug-free workplace policies that include workplace drug-testing programs, for a host of reasons. Some institute the policies to comply with federal regulations, customer or contract requirements, or insurance carrier requirements. Others wish to improve safety, minimize the chance of hiring employees who may be users or abusers, deter “recreational” drug use that could lead to addiction, identify current users and abusers and refer them for assistance, or reduce the costs of alcohol and other drug abuse in the workplace. Drug testing is one way to protect the workplace from the negative effects of alcohol and other drug abuse. A drug- and alcohol-testing program can deter employees from coming to work unfit for duty.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), substance abusing employees rarely make good employees. Studies show that, compared with nonsubstance abusers, they are more likely to:
• Change jobs frequently.
• Be late to or absent from work.
• Be less productive employees.
• Be involved in a workplace accident.
• File a workers’ compensation claim.
Workplace substance abuse can also have a serious effect on people other than the abuser. Some studies suggest that working alongside a substance abuser can reduce non-abusers’ morale and productivity. It also is common for substance abusing workers involved in workplace accidents to injure other people (rather than themselves), especially if they work in safety-sensitive industries, such as the transportation or construction industry.
SAMHSA also stated that employers who have implemented drug-free workplace programs have important experiences to share:
• Employers with successful drug-free workplace programs report improvements in morale and productivity and decreases in absenteeism, accidents, downtime, turnover, and theft.
• Employers with longstanding programs report better health status among, and decreased use of medical benefits by, many employees and family members.
• Some organizations with drug-free workplace programs qualify for incentives, such as decreased costs for workers’ compensation and other kinds of insurance.
• Employers find that employees, employee representatives, and unions often welcome drug-free workplace programs. If an employer has no program, employees may wonder why
