The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Sam Grenadier

Illegal drugs often have severe effects on those who use and abuse them, but when it comes to the workforce, the consequences only get worse.

According to a study compiled by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to examine drug use within the nation's workforce, 8.2 percent of full-time, adult workers between the ages of 18 and 64 years old in the United States reported using illicit drugs within one month prior to the survey.

Bob Stephenson, director of the Division of Workplace Programs at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said drug use adversely affects the workforce and can be profoundly costly if not accurately measured.

"A lot of studies have been done in the past about the cost to society, but the biggest cost to society is lost productivity by lost wages," he said. "In other words, people who are involved in drugs don't have a job or they can't get a job; therefore, their contribution to society is reduced."

George Comiskey, associate director for Tech's Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery, said employees with addictions pose safety risks to themselves and others at work. It is important that employers look for signs of drug addiction and offer help to those who need it.

"Once they do identify it as being drugs, they usually want to help them, which is what we find," he said. "If they can get over their drug problems then they can actually come back to be better employees because they have a renewed sense of life and have better coping abilities to handle the job."

The administration offers a help line for employers seeking help establishing a program to help employees struggling with drug use, Stephenson said, and offers a drug-free program kit to help employers.

"It's not all just about trying to identify users of illicit drugs and heavy alcohol consumption," he said. "It's also about trying to deter it before it's present and to help identify it from a health and wellness perspective."

Employees between the ages of 18 and 25 years old reported the highest percentage of illicit drug use, according to the study, with nearly one out of five individuals within that group reporting past-month usage.

"They are faced with stressors they have never dealt with before," Stephenson said. "Increasingly, employers need to understand that young people are coming in to the workforce, and that it's very important to help young people be set up for success."

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools