HIGH ON THE JOB: DRUG USERS COST EMPLOYERS MONEY, PRODUCTIVITY

One by one, three men took the witness stand in a Sioux County murder trial
this fall, each describing how he had smoked methamphetamine the night
before two friends died.

Two of the men testified that they had gone straight to work the next day
n-one at a lumber yard, the other cutting grass n-without having slept.

"A lot of people use (drugs) and go to work," said one meth user of eight
years who didn't want her name used. "It's no problem for them to go to
work high." She herself would work after using drugs too, but said she
sometimes had a hard time functioning on the little or no sleep meth affords.

If you are gainfully employed, chances are you work with someone like them,
someone who uses meth or another illicit drug, maybe even reporting to work
under its influence or after-effects.

"We've come to believe if I'm employed, making a salary, maintaining my
house, I can't be a 'drug user,'" said Becky Swift, assistant director of
Drug Demand Reduction for Iowa Governor's Office on Drug Policy. "And, we
have a hard time believing our co-workers are using. But there are people
who hide it very, very well."

On-The-Job Drug Use Has Multiple Costs

The governor's Drug Policy Office estimates that 77 percent of all drug
users in Iowa are employed. For those arrested (for any reason) in Woodbury
County, a 2002 study of prisoners entering the jail showed it's likely that
fewer of those using drugs were employed n about 53 percent (of those
agreeing to participate in the study.)

Swift said the state has found that a co-worker is injured in four of every
10 accidents caused by a drug user. Drug users bring other risks to the
workplace as well: they account for significant levels of theft, tardiness,
low productivity, high turnover and damage done to the company's reputation.

The White House Office on Drug Policy estimates 50 to 80 percent of
pilferage and loss to businesses is the result of substance abusing
employees. Swift said a northeast Iowa company discovered a couple years
ago that a whole layer of employees at one of its offices was in on a
scheme using company purchase orders to buy the ingredients needed to make
methamphetamine. The company is still working to rebuild its reputation and
relationship with customers, she said.

The costs go beyond theft and credibility. Good employees may leave because
they become uncomfortable with the work environment. Some may not even be
able to explain why they feel uneasy at work. Hiring, training and trying
to keep a new person in that position adds another layer to the cost of
on-the-job drug use.

'Employment Is A Powerful Motivator'

Businesses are not defenseless. Swift said they need first to develop drug
and alcohol policies, something which can be done with the help of her
office or other organizations. Along with that, companies can institute
drug and alcohol programs which include education for all employees and the
training of supervisors. Supervisors are taught to recognize signs of
alcohol and drug impairment and to deal with substance abusing employees in
a legal and professional manor.

"Even if you're not drug testing, you need a comprehensive workplace
policy," Swift advised. "It says to employees that we want this to be a
safe and productive workplace. It also helps employees understand the
consequences. Continued employment is a powerful motivator, Swift said.

"The bottom line is that businesses are in business for a reason," Swift
said. "The user needs help, but is also a liability to that business."

Pre-Employment Drug Testing On The Rise

"We start 10 new companies a month in a drug and alcohol program," said
Mike Schmidt, director of operations for St. Luke's Occupational Health
Clinics since 1993. "At some point you think you'd saturate your market,
but there has been constant growth."

More and more companies are using pre-employment and later random drug
testing to reduce the cost and consequences of having drug-impaired workers
on the job. Testing is especially attractive now that the job market has
tightened and the labor pool is deeper than just a few years ago.

When the U.S. Departments of Transportation mandated drug and alcohol
testing in 1993 for holders of commercial driver's licenses, St. Luke's
Occupational Health Clinics (also known as Grandview Clinics) helped 35
hospitals and clinics across the state establish testing programs,
furnishing them with the necessary equipment.

Other businesses began to get on board, too, said Schmidt. Now St. Luke's
does 22,000 drug tests a year for 1,590 local, regional and national
customers. Local clients include such companies as Terra Chemical, Wells
Dairy and MidAmerican Energy. St. Luke's contracts include their employees
nationwide.

Each drug screen costs $49.50, including collection, lab work and review of
the results by a medical review officer, or MRO.

Up to 3 of every 100 tests done by St. Luke's clinics are positive for
drugs. Marijuana use accounts for most, but methamphetamine is second,
according to Dr. Doug Martin an MRO for the lab. Because of confidentiality
requirements, the lab does not keep cumulative data, Schmidt said. The IDOT
does, however. In its testing program, about 5 in every 100 employee tests
come back positive, Schmidt said. Nationally, 3 to 5 of every 100 drug
tests register positive.

Testing Has Broad Benefits

Along with less theft, better attendance and higher productivity, companies
may also benefit from reduced insurance premiums when they institute
testing and awareness programs.

The Sioux City Journal has required pre-employment drug testing since 1993
and trains its supervisors every two years, according to Ron Peterson,
publisher. Business office supervisor, Sue Stusse, said the company does
not receive an insurance rate reduction for testing, but enjoys a lower
Worker's Compensation premium because of having a low accident rate.

Schoon Construction in Cherokee, Iowa, works through Sioux Valley Hospital
there, doing both pre-hire testing and random testing of all employees, a
practice it began in 1999; the company has spent as much as $10,000 per
year on the program, depending on the number of workers tested. Owner LeRoy
Schoon considers it money well spent, and has said he wishes his
competitors would do it as well.

Schoon's 20 to 25 commercial licensed drivers are all tested regularly,
said Leo Klotz, Schoon's human resources officer. Every quarter, the clinic
selects randomly by employee number some of the company's remaining 85 to
100 workers for testing. In addition, Schoon trains its supervisors and
foremen to recognize impaired workers.

Klotz said workers typically go where they can earn the most money, but
that's not the only consideration. "We have people here who stay because
they know it's" a good environment, he said. "Some have gone other places
and come back."

Klotz said the company gets fewer applicants who test positive because it
requires the test. But there is still an occasional positive: "Meth and
marijuana are the big ones."

St. Luke's Schmidt said it's not uncommon for the lab to get a
drug-positive urine sample from a job applicant for Company A, then see the
same person test clean a week later when applying at Company B. He said the
lab cannot make Company B aware of the previous test, however.

Schmidt said companies that don't test at all are getting "the leftovers."