STUDY: DRUG USE AT SMALLER FIRMS ON RISE

WASHINGTON - Fewer Americans are using illegal drugs on the job these days
but drug use is growing among workers at medium-sized companies, according
to a new study released Wednesday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which questioned 7,957
households, found that companies with more then 25 workers and fewer then
500 saw substance abusers grow from 5 percent of their work force in 1994 to
8 percent in 1997.

The costs of this increased use are multiplying, experts said, because many
of these companies don't have rehabilitation and related services to help
workers fight drug problems.

Lost workdays, accidents and increased liability insurance rates caused by
employee drug abuse cost American companies more than $110 billion a year,
Donald Vereen, deputy director of the White House's Office of National Drug
Policy, noted Wednesday.

Some 13 percent of drug abusers skipped a day of work during the last month,
as as compared with 5 percent for nonusers. And a quarter of those who use
drugs are likely to quit their jobs over a 12 month period, adding to the
expense of recruitment and training. Only 15 percent of nonusers typically
quit each year.

Ironically, larger companies which have the lowest drug abuse rates, are
most likely to be able to afford employee assistance programs designed to
rehabilitate substance abusers, noted Nelba Chavez, of the substance abuse
organization.

"(Support) programs cost $22 to $24 per employee per year said Gregory
DeLapp, president of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association Inc.
"Drug testing is a separate cost."

And medical insurance companies have been indifferent to pleas from
proponents to foot the costs of drug testing and rehabilitation programs.

"We've been reaching out" Vereen said. "But they haven't been reaching back."

With no insurance help and relatively expensive support programs, many small
and medium-sized companies decide they can't afford the luxury of programs
designed to fight drug abuse on the job. But that's a miscalculation say
federal drug experts.

In-house drug testing and rehab programs can lower liability insurance bills
significantly and can increase productivity-producing savings large enough
to more than cover the costs of rescue efforts, the experts argue.

Even employers who don't sense a significant problem in their work force
would be well-advised to lay plans to deal with abuse, the experts said.
Most abusers look just like their co-workers, they note.

Some 70 percent of people who use illegal drugs hold full-time jobs, the
experts say. There were an estimated 6.3 million illicit drug users and 6.2
million heavy alcohol users among the 81.8 million people in America's work
force in 1997.

The problem is particularly serious among workers in the restaurant,
construction and transportation industries.