An Analysis of Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs

1.2 The Nature of the Problem

Previous studies indicate that the prevalence of drug use in the United States varies by employment status. Evidence suggests that the highest prevalence of illicit drug use occurs among the unemployed (see Hoffmann et al., 1996; Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, 1996a). For example, in 1994, 16.2 percent of the unemployed, 9.0 percent of part-time workers, and 7.6 percent of full-time workers, age 18-49, reported current illicit drug use (see Figure 1.1). Although the higher prevalence of use among the unemployed has generated considerable interest among researchers and policy makers (Perrucci and Perrucci, 1990; Harrell and Peterson, 1992), it can be misleading. According to the 1994 NHSDA data used in this report, the unemployed comprised only 7 percent, while full-time workers comprised over 75 percent, of the U.S. labor force. [ This excludes persons who fell under the "other " employment category (i.e., homemakers, students, retired persons, disabled persons, and others).] Figures 1.1 and 1.2 show the implications of these percentages in a complementary manner: among the total number of current illicit drug users in this population 13 percent were unemployed, 17 percent were part-time workers, and almost 70 percent were

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.