WORKPLACE DRUG USE DEBUNKED IN FORUM

With 120,000 known alcoholics and 36,000 drug addicts, B.C. has one
of the highest rates of drug use in the country.

Statistics confirm that drug and alcohol use has infiltrated the
workplace, and on Wednesday 80 employers learned what signs of
impairment to look for, the effect on the bottom line, and the extent
of their liability.

The event was Drugs and Addiction in the Workplace, a symposium
hosted by the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce.

Const. Marianne Farmer, a 20-year veteran of the RCMP, launched the
post-breakfast segment of the symposium by saying that children are
using stimulants, including tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs at a
younger age. Children are beginning to smoke cigarettes around age 11
and 12, and drink alcohol at age 12 and 13. The combination of an
increasingly younger work force as the babyboomer generation begins
to retire, and more drug use among young people, leaves no doubt that
drugs and alcohol exists in the work place.

Compounding the problem, Farmer said, is that drugs are easier to
obtain and are more potent: 60 per cent of ecstasy is crystal meth, a
drug which is gaining popularity "because the hit from it lasts quite
a bit longer than coke."

There are more drugs than ever, some of them legal but used unwisely
if not illicitly. For example, Farmer revealed, a trend that is
proving popular is the "pharming party" where prescription drugs and
over-the-counter drugs are swapped.

Farmer told the audience of employers and supervisors that an
estimate 40 per cent of workplace deaths, and 47 per cent of job
injuries, are linked to alcohol.

She said that droopy eyes, a slow reaction to light, thick, slurred
speech, drunk-like behaviour, drowsiness and fumbling could indicate
an employee is using depressants.

The affects of alcohol will manifest in poor judgment and
self-control, dizziness, nausea, slow brain function, and anger.

Heavy drinkers may be more insulting and argumentative, and be prone
to vandalism, physical assaults, fights and making unwanted sexual advances.

Because of its effect on the body, marijuana shouldn't be dismissed
as "only dope," Farmer said.

"It's amazing what marijuana can do to the body," she said. This
includes difficulty concentrating, distortion of time, paranoia, lack
of motivation, drowsiness, loss of muscle co-ordination, and an
impaired ability to track moving objects with the eyes.

"That's a definite problem if they are driving," she said.

Employees who use crystal meth will likely have a sense of euphoria,
be more talkative, have elevated self-confidence, and show rapid
speech and movement.

Drug users are more likely to absent from work, get to work late, and
make more excuses. Consequently, they are less productive and are
more likely to injure themselves or someone else.

Section 217.1 of the Criminal Code spells out an employer's
responsibility: Everyone who undertakes, or has the authority, to
direct how another person does work or performs a task, is under a
legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that
person, or any other person, arising from that work or task.

Employers can combat drugs in the workplace by instigating a
substance abuse policy, providing training, education and awareness,
and through an employee assistance program which provides counselling.