EMBARGOED—Until September 8, 1999
Contact: Leah Young
Phone: 301-443-5052

The report was released as part the September observance of the 10th National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, sponsored by SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).  This year's theme is Addiction Treatment: Investing in People for Business Success.  The effort highlights the benefits of corporate and small business Workplace substance abuse referral programs.

The SAMHSA study, Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs: Results from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), shows that the overall rate of current illicit drug use among full time employees has fallen from 17.5 percent in 1985 to a low point in 1992 (7.4 percent) and has stayed steady through 1997 (7.7 percent).

In addition to showing a decline in overall drug use by full time workers, the report which focuses on findings from the 1994 and 1997 NHSDA found a dramatic shift in current illicit drug users and heavy alcohol users from small (1-24 employees) to medium size establishments (25-499).  The rate of current illicit drug use declined in small establishments from 11 percent in 1994 to 9 percent in 1997 and increased in mid-size establishments from slightly more than 5 percent in 1994 to almost 8 percent in 1997.  Workers in large establishments (500 or more) continue to report the lowest rate of current illicit drug use.  There was no change in the rate of current illicit drug use among these workers from 1994 (5.4 percent) to 1997 (5.8 percent).

SAMHSA Administrator, Nelba Chavez, Ph.D. said, "Whether you are a corporate CEO or a small business owner, you need to know that simple, low burden, effective steps—including ready access to treatment, Workplace policies and employee education—can increase Workplace safety and productivity and lower substance abuse and its human and economic effects."

Barry McCaffrey, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said, "Recovery Month is an important opportunity to highlight the need for greater access to comprehensive Workplace Drug-Free programs that include access to drug treatment.  Seventy percent of drug users are employed full time.  Workplace drug treatment is a critical way to reach those who need help.  The typical drug abuser is not poor and unemployed.  He or she can be a co-worker, a husband or wife, a parent."

McCaffrey continued, "We need parity for substance abuse in insurance coverage, where drug treatment is covered at the same benefit level as other chronic relapsing disorders.  The Federal government has taken an historic step—the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will offer parity for mental health and substance abuse coverage by 2001.  This is a sound business investment, good drug control policy, and good health policy.  We urge other employers to similarly provide parity for their workers."

CSAT Director H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., pointed out, "These data demonstrate that illicit drug users and heavy alcohol users are more likely to have worked for three or more employers in the past year and to have skipped one or more days of work in the past month.  Employers can help their own bottom line, while at the same time help reduce substance abuse, by creating written policies about drug and alcohol abuse and encouraging substance abusers to enter treatment."

The study also shows that the percentage of workers who said they had been provided information, who were aware of written policies regarding drug and alcohol use, or whose Workplace provided access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) increased with establishment size.  For example, about a quarter (27 percent) of workers in the smallest category said they have access to an EAP program.  Sixty-one percent of workers in the middle size and 75 percent of  workers in large establishments reported that their Workplace had EAP programs.  However, fewer employees in large Workplaces reported that they had access to employee assistance programs in 1997 than in 1994 (75 percent vs. 83 percent).

Workplace policies matter.  Employees in three of four occupations studied with the lowest rates of drug use (protective services; extraction and precision production—mining, metal and wood workers; electronic equipment assemblers; and administrative support) were also among employees in the four occupations with the highest rates of drug information and policies in the Workplace.  Employees in three of the four occupations with the highest rates of drug use (food preparation, wait staff and bartenders, construction, and other services) were also among employees in the four occupations with the lowest rates of drug information and policy in the Workplace.

Although the results only approach statistical significance, it is important to note that in 1997 (controlling for the effect of workers' age, gender, race and ethnicity, education, income, Workplace establishment size, and region) workers who reported that their Workplace did not have a written policy about alcohol or drug use were more than two times as likely to say they used an illicit drug in the past month as those workers who reported that their Workplace had a written policy.

Overall employees were less adverse to drug testing at the Workplace.  From 1994 to 1997 the proportion of workers who expressed that they would be less likely to work for an employer who tested for drug use at hiring, randomly or upon suspicion dropped significantly.  The exception was for those at small establishments who reported current illicit drug use.

To help employers get started or do more, SAMHSA provides a toll-free telephone consulting service at 1-800-Workplace (1-800-967-5752) or HELPLINE@SAMHSA.GOV via the Internet.  Consultation is provided in policy development, supervisory training, employee education, employee assistance programs and drug testing.

"The data provides continued evidence that Workplace policies about drug and alcohol use are associated with lower prevalence rates of drug and alcohol use among workers and that Workplace-based employee assistance programs and interventions should be encouraged.  All it takes is a phone call or a mouse click to begin developing a drug free Workplace.  As a result employees will benefit from a safer and healthier Workplace," Dr. Chavez added.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) is conducted annually by SAMHSA. The survey provides estimates of the prevalence of use of a variety of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, based on a nationally representative sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population age 12 years and older. In 1994, as a result of a collaborative effort among SAMHSA, the Department of Labor, and the Small Business Administration, a special module of questions was included in the NHSDA in order to collect detailed information from workers on the size of their Workplace, Workplace accidents in which they may have been involved, their company's drugs testing programs, their absences from work, their separation from work (e.g., voluntary, firing), and their Workplace's policies and programs regarding drug and alcohol use.  In 1997, a similar Workplace module was included in the NHSDA. This report examines data from 7,055 NHSDA respondents, age 18-49, in 1994 and 7,957 NHSDA respondents, age 18-49, in 1997, who reported that they were working full-time (35 hours or more a week) at the time of the interview. These respondents represent over 78.7 million full-time workers in the U. S. in 1994 and over 81.8 million in 1997.

The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving access to quality substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the U.S.  Publications are available at www.samhsa.gov or on www.health.org.  They can be ordered by contacting SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) at 1-800-729-6686; TDD for hearing impaired, 1-800-487-4889.  News media requests for information on SAMHSA's programs should call News Media Services at 1-800-487-4890.