CASUAL DRUG USE DOES NOT AFFECT EMPLOYMENT

NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters Health) - A controversial new study finds that
casual illicit drug use has no effect on employment status and suggests
that employer-based treatment programs should focus on chronic "problem"
drug users rather than all users.

The study, based on data from the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse, concludes that casual users -- who say they have used drugs no more
than once a week over the past year -- are as likely to look for work or
hold a job as those who say they use no drugs at all.

Chronic drug abuse, similar to chronic alcohol abuse, was confirmed to
reduce the likelihood of holding a job, according to the report published
in the October issue of the Southern Economic Journal.

The findings may help employers develop more effective employee drug abuse
assistance and drug testing programs, according to researchers led by Dr.
Michael T. French of the University of Miami, Florida.

Some have expressed doubt that a distinction between casual and chronic
drug use in the workplace is helpful.

"I don't think any parent would want their child's school bus driver to use
drugs whether it was casually or chronically," Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman
for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told Reuters
Health.

According to a recent analysis of workplace injuries quoted by Lemaitre,
one sixth of workers involved in fatal accidents tested positive for
alcohol, cocaine or marijuana. "It would be impossible to tell if these
were casual or chronic drug users.

"In terms of workplace accidents, it does not matter if the drug user is
hard core or casual. The damage has already been done," he continued.
"People who use drugs miss work, have lower productivity and have
accidents. Fourteen billion dollars are lost annually in the United States
because of drug use on the job."

The authors of the study suggest that employers designing drug abuse
assistance strategies focus on problem drug users in the same way they
focus on problem drinkers.

The results also suggest that women who are chronic drug users are just as
likely to seek work as those who use drugs casually or not at all. The
investigators speculate that, when compared with men, there may be other
factors specific to women that overshadow drug use when deciding to look
for work.

The Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation funded the study.

Chronic users of illicit drugs accounted for 4% of those surveyed while
non-chronic, or casual, users comprised 8% from a national sample of 4,000
men and 5,700 women between the ages of 25 and 59.

Southern Economic Journal 2001 October.