STIGMA OF DRUGS

The Labor Department Is Encouraging Employers To Create Drug-free Workplace
Programs, But It's Still An Area That Is Taboo.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the
U.S. Department of Labor reported recently that 74.6 percent of the
nation's 16.6 million adult illicit drug users work either full or
part time.

As a result, the Labor Department is encouraging employers to
establish drug-free workplace programs.

According to the Labor Department report, 12.4 million men and women
in both blue- and white-collar professions are addicted to drugs.

"The prevalence of addiction is about 10 percent," said Dr. Mike
Miller, medical director of NewStart, the alcohol and drug treatment
program at Madison's Meriter Hospital. "It affects their personal
lives long before it impacts their work."

But supervisors and human resource managers often are loath to pry
into matters of personal behavior that are not directly related to
their staff members' job performance.

The Labor Department Web site on workplace drug use (www.samhsa.gov)
lists potential costs to employers. They include: absenteeism,
tardiness, overtime pay, sick leave abuse, health insurance claims,
disability payments, and costs associated with accidents.

There are also hidden costs: supervisory and managerial time, friction
among workers, material waste, equipment damage, poor decisions,
damage to public image, costs associated with turnover and premature
death.

Some employers believe that they can preempt the problem by simply
imposing pre-employment drug screening. But an effective drug-free
workplace program does not end there, employers and experts say.

"We have a system of prevention and treatment," said interim city of
Madison human resource director Roger Goodwin. "We have different
levels of testing depending on the type of employee."

Holders of commercial driver's licenses, including bus drivers and
heavy equipment operators, employed by the city receive
pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, and post-accident
testing, he said. Police officers and firefighters are subject to all
types of testing except random testing. Clerical workers and other
city employees are subject to testing only on reasonable suspicion.

In Madison, a city employee who tests positive for drugs is not
immediately dismissed. On a first offense, the employee is referred to
a substance abuse specialist and must complete a prescribed program
while on paid leave. That person cannot return to work until they are
drug free. This can take as much as a year.

If the employee tests positive again during treatment they may then be
terminated. If after the treatment program the employee tests positive
again, they are referred to treatment, this time without pay, and may
be subject to discipline or termination.

"Some people try to play Russian roulette and take their chances,"
Goodwin said. "But once they get into the system, they have to make a
decision as to whether or not they're going to continue drug use."

Private companies have their own drug policies and programs. Susan
Stupica is director of sales and accounts for General Medical
Laboratories, a division of Meriter Hospital, which provides drug
testing and policy consultation.

"We can help (our clients) with regulation, policy creation, and
program complications." The laboratory conducts the tests and reports
findings. It is then up to the employer to determine a course of
action for the employee. "We can assist but we don't mandate," Stupica
said.

Stupica said drug-free workplace programs can vary with the number,
type and frequency of tests performed. However, testing is only part
of services that the laboratory provides. "We put a lot of emphasis on
education and training," she said.

Many companies, particularly small businesses with limited resources,
will often restrict their programs to pre-employment drug screening.

"A small-business person is supposed to be an expert on so many
things," said Erica Kauten, director of the UW-Extension Small
Business Development Center. "Human resources is another area they
have to deal with. They kind of wait until it's a crisis and then we
provide them with counseling. We direct people to where the answers
are and they make their own decisions."

Treatment specialists like Miller believe they understand why some
companies are reluctant to offer drug-free workplace programs.
"There's a stigma regarding drug and alcohol use," he said. "People
see it as a criminal justice issue, a failure of character, and not a
medical problem."

This stigma, Miller said, is one reason that prevents workers from
acknowledging their addiction and seeking help. If employees do not
come forward and workplace drug use is not readily apparent, most
employers will assume there is no problem.

It usually takes a "glitch in their program in life, problems in their
family, problems in their workplace, problems in their health," he
said, "before they resolve their ambivalence enough to show up."

Need help?

For information on creating a drug-free workplace, the Labor
Department recommends employers visit the Working Partners Web site at
www.dol.gov/dol/workingpartners.htm.

If you have story ideas for On The Job, contact James Edward Mills
at jmills@madison.com or 608-252-6158.