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Home > News Archive > 1999 > Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies
Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies
September 9, 1999 - Washington, DC, USA
Seventy percent of the nation's drug users are also part of the full-time workforce, according to a report entitled Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs: Results from the 1994 and 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA).
The survey, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, questioned 7,957 full-time employees aged 18-49 in 1997. The survey estimates 6.3 million full-time employees are current illicit drug users (defined as drug use in the past 30 days), which amounts to less than one out of twelve full-time employees (eight percent), a level which remained constant from the 1994 survey.
"This survey undermines the government's claim that drug users are a drain on society," said Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director. "By their own data, they demonstrate that most drug users, particularly marijuana smokers, are hard-working and responsible citizens."
Of the population surveyed, the number of people opposing drug testing dropped significantly in most categories.
In 1994, 40.3 percent of current drug users said they were less likely to work for an employer who randomly tested for drug use, as opposed to 28.5 percent in 1997. In 1994, 11.6 percent of non-users were less likely to work for an employer who randomly tested for drug use, as opposed to 6.4 percent in 1997.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director at (202) 483-8751. The Survey can be viewed at http://www.samhsa.gov/.
updated: Apr 22, 2003
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