Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs: Results from the 1994 and 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Table of Contents (TOC)  for this report    

CHAPTER 3: CURRENT ILLICIT DRUG USE AND HEAVY ALCOHOL USE AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH WORKPLACE OUTCOMES

Labor force participants in the NHSDA were asked a set of questions with regard to their workplace experiences such as job mobility, work attendance, and workplace accidents. This chapter presents the potential associations between current drug use or heavy alcohol use and adverse workplace outcomes.

3.1 Drug Use Status and Workplace Outcomes

In 1997, those who reported current illicit drug use were more likely than those who reported no current illicit drug use to have worked for three or more employers in the past year (9.3% vs. 4.3%), to have skipped one or more days of work in the past month (12.9% vs. 5.0%), or to have voluntarily left an employer in the past year (24.8% vs. 15.4%).

Similarly, those reporting current heavy alcohol use were more likely than those reporting no such use to have worked for three or more employers in the past year (8.0% vs. 4.4%) and to have skipped one or more days of work in the past month (11.3% vs. 5.1%). 

There were no significant difference found among heavy alcohol users in 1994 compared to heavy alcohol users in 1997 in percent reporting various workplace outcomes.
 

 

 

Figure 3.1 Percent of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Various Workplace Outcomes, by Current Illicit Drug Use and Heavy Alcohol Use, 1994 and 1997

Worked for three or more employers in the past year



Missed two or more days of work in the past month due to illness or injury



Skipped one or more days of work in the past month



 

 

Figure 3.2 Percent of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Various Workplace Outcomes, by Current Illicit Drug Use and Heavy Alcohol Use, 1994 and 1997 (Continued)

Voluntarily left an employer in the past year



Fired by an employer in the past year



Had a workplace accident in the past year



Note: Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of at least five days during the previous 30 days.

This page was last updated on June 16, 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.