ILLICIT DRUG USE AMONG WORKERS ON THE RISE

1 In 12 Employees Say They've Indulged In Past Month; Most Referring
To Marijuana

WASHINGTON -(AP) - One in 12 full-time workers in the United States
acknowledges having used illegal drugs in the past month, the
government reports.

Most of those who report using illicit drugs are employed full-time,
with the highest rates among restaurant workers, 17.4 percent, and
construction workers, 15.1 percent, according to a federal study
being released Monday.

About 4 percent of teachers and social service workers reported using
illegal drugs in the past month, which was among the lowest rates.

Federal officials said the newest survey is a snapshot and was not
designed to show whether illicit drug usage in the workplace is a
growing problem or a lessening one.

The current usage rate is 8.2 percent. Two previous government
surveys reflected a usage rate of 7.6 percent in 1994 and 7.7 percent
in 1997, but those studies involved a much smaller sample of interviews.

The latest study comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Administration, an agency within the Health and Human Services Department.

The data is drawn from the agency's annual surveys in 2002, 2003 and
2004 of the civilian, non-institutionalized population. Each survey
included interviews with more than 40,000 people, who were each paid
$30 to participate.

Joe Gfroerer, an agency official, said most of the illicit drug use
involved marijuana.

Anne Skinstad, a researcher and clinical psychologist, called the
survey's results "very worrisome" because there are fewer treatment
programs than there used to be to assist employees and employers with
a dependence on drugs.

However, testing programs for drug use are fairly prevalent, with
48.8 percent of full-time workers telling the government that their
employers conducted testing for drug use.

"I used to train supervisors to detect chronic use and intervene as
early as possible, and that is a very good, constructive way rather
than firing people," said Skinstad, an associate professor and
director of the Prairielands Addiction Technology Transfer Center at
the University of Iowa. "Some employers want drug testing. I'm not
sure that's the way I would like to go. What I think I would like to
focus on is employee performance."

The study also showed that the prevalence of illegal drug use
reported by full-time workers in the past month was highest among
younger workers.

Nineteen percent of workers age 18 to 25 said they used illegal drugs
during the past month, compared with 10.3 percent among those age 26
to 34; 7 percent among those age 35 to 49; and 2.6 percent among
those age 50 to 64.

Men accounted for about two-thirds of the workers -- 6.4 million --
who reported using illegal drugs in the past month, the government
said. Men were also more likely than women to report illegal drug use
in the past month -- 9.7 percent for men, versus 6.2 percent for women.

The study also looked at alcohol use by workers. About 10.1 million
full-time workers, or 8.8 percent, reported heavy alcohol use. Heavy
alcohol use was defined as drinking five or more drinks on one
occasion at least five times in the past 30 days.