MIXED RESULTS ON WORKPLACE DRUG USE
U.S. Companies Pay The Price

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 study released Wednesday by the federal Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration.

Companies with more than 25 workers and fewer than 500 saw substance
abusers grow from 5 percent of their work force in 1994 to 8 percent
in 1997, the study indicated.

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 compared with 5 percent for non-users. 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 non-users 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 drug 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. Some 19 percent of food
preparation workers, waiters, waitresses and bartenders use drugs, for
instance.

Some 44 percent of employees who abuse drugs work for companies with
fewer than 25 people, the new study indicates. The proportion at
medium-sized companies is 43 percent, and only 13 percent of employed
drug abusers work at large companies.