SEVENTY PERCENT OF DRUG ABUSERS HOLD DOWN JOBS

Employer Tolerance Growing

By 5 p.m. on a typical weekday, technicians in a Fort Myers laboratory
begin to analyze about 500 urine specimens delivered from clinics
throughout South Florida.

By 8 a.m. the next morning, about 5 percent of them will be identified as
coming from people under the influence of an illegal drug, most likely
marijuana, codeine or cocaine.

The samples come from truck and bus drivers, airline crews and a variety of
hourly and salaried workers undergoing routine screening for workplace drug
use.

Southwest Florida experts say the number of workers on drugs has declined
from the 1980s, when 20 percent of the workforce was thought to be drug
users. However, workplace tolerance for drugs has increased as the
unemployment rate has decreased.

"We are losing drug-free workplaces every day because of the strain on the
job market right now. There is such a problem recruiting people, employers
are willing to recruit drug addicts," said Bud Stephens, executive
secretary of the Coalition for a Drug Free Southwest Florida.

Diagnostic Services Inc., (DSI) a laboratory in Gateway, tests 2,000 to
2,500 workplace-related urine samples a week, said Dr. Robert White, its
director. Of those, 80 to 125 are found to be positive.

"We have one client on the east coast who has about 20 percent that test
positive," White said.

Samples come from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach as well as from
throughout Southwest Florida.

Jim McDonough, spokesman for the Office of Drug Control in the governor's
office, said presuming that 4 to 5 percent of the workforce is on drugs is
a conservative estimate.

"Statistics are lean on this," he said. "But we do know that 71 percent of
people who have substance abuse problems also have jobs."

Most government employers require applicants to take a drug test. The
Department of Transportation requires testing for anyone in thepublic or
private sector holding a commercial driver's license. Most private
employers, however, do not require testing beyond that federal mandate.

Stephens, who is also business development and contracting director at Lee
Memorial Health System, estimated that one of four private employers in
Southwest Florida do some kind of drug screening. Even so, companies
required to test drivers rarely extend it to other employees.

"Construction companies have to test anyone driving those big trucks, but I
don't have a single construction company in my database that requires drug
screening for their regular, non-required positions," he said.

Restaurants and construction

The construction and restaurant industries -- where workers are young,
mobile and often paid in cash -- generally have high drug use and lax
testing, Stephens said.

Brad Bertelli, 35, a waiter who worked for about 10 restaurants, including
Lee County's Opus Jazz Bistro, Gilligan's and Captain Al's, said drug and
alcohol use is common among restaurant workers.

"Take a cigarette break out back and go out and smoke a joint. That's the
alcohol and drug lifestyle. Not everyone is doing it, but more than not,"
he said. "Some people are coming in hung over or strung out. They get
cranky and irritable at their tables.

"I worked stoned every day for months and once got restaurant employee of
the month," he said.

He said drug use is not as prevalent today as it was in the 1980s, and it
causes few serious accidents.

However, he said, working drug users can be trapped in the lifestyle.

"I've worked in places where a lot of dealing goes on in restaurants. You
walk out with a hundred bucks or 200 bucks a night in your hand. It's
conducive to not being responsible."

Now a graduate student building a writing career, Bertelli said, "I'm not
in that lifestyle any more."

Chris Easley, director of human resources for Meristar's Sanibel and
Captiva resorts, said the company, which owns Captain Al's, began a program
for all employees about four years ago.

"We do testing for cause, post-accident of any kind, and we do a random
test as well," he said. "We were running about a 10 to 12 percent positive
ratio, which is the number that you find for the nation.

"We employ a lot of young people. We felt our numbers really weren't that
significant. We rarely have a positive after an accident."

Easley said he does not test job applicants. He said it's too easy for
applicants to temporarily stop using drugs or to use an over-the-counter
product that claims to cleanse the body of drug traces.

He said the tight labor supply did not influence the decision on screening
applicants.

Worker's comp break

Meristar's Florida operations do not participate in the state's approved
Drug Free Workplace Program, which requires pre-screening of job
applicants.

Gary Sabitsch, program coordinator for the Florida Department of Insurance,
said companies that meet its standards are eligible for a 5 percent
discount in workers' compensation premiums.

He said the state had no historic data on the companies participating
because the program is offered through private insurers.

Robb & Stucky, which employs about 1,000 people in 22 locations,
participates.

Sondra Mitchell, director of human resources, said its worker's comp claims
dropped after drug screening began.

The furniture and home decorating company paid workers' comp claims of
about $150,000 in 1992 and $250,000 in 1993 for a workforce of 350 to 400
employees.

After the program was started in 1994, its claims dropped to $74,000.

"I'm sure it wasn't just the drug free program," Mitchell said, "But we
knew it had an impact."

So far this year, the company has had about $75,000 in claims for its total
workforce.

Since the program was started in 1994, only two employees filing a worker's
comp claim were found to have been using drugs at the time of injury.

The company can offer more efficient customer service and provide a
healthier workplace for other employees because of the program, she said.

"People don't want to be working where they know employers don't care if
people are on drugs," she said, estimating that 10 applicants a year "take
a hike" because their tests were positive.

Mitchell said safety, not insurance savings motivated Robb & Stucky to
start the program.

"What amazes me is how many people on drugs have jobs," she said. "It's
just not worth the risk today. People sue so easily. Everyone has got to be
careful who they are hiring."

Little offense taken

Mitchell said job candidates are not offended by being asked to take the
drug test.

Employers refer applicants and employees to a company-chosen doctor where
they are asked to submit a urine sample. It is labeled and sent according
to strict guidelines.

At DSI, testing is done in a high-security lab. Samples presumed to be
positive are handled only by a short list of certified employees.

DSI is one of only three labs approved by the National Laboratory
Certification Program through the federal Department of Health and Human
Services. Only 68 in the United States are certified for the workplace drug
screening.

Positives are referred to a medical examiner chosen by employers. "It's up
to them to call it a true positive," he said.

DSI also examines the package for tampering and checks the sample for
adulterants and substitution, White said.

There are over-the-counter products that claim to cleanse the trace of
drugs in the body or neutralize samples. The lab can detect them.

Stephens would like to see more employers begin a Drug Free Workplace
Program, whether by their own design or according to state guidelines.

"It is a public health issue," he said. "It is a public safety issue. It's
a horrible issue. I just don't see how anybody could not see it."