Workplace Drug Policies

Workplace drug policies can be categorized into two types: those that address drug abuse as a health issue, leading to limited opportunities provided by the employer to conserve individual employment, [Page 1009]and those that view any association with illegal drugs by an employee or a prospective employee as a violation, leading to punitive or exclusionary actions. Many workplaces have combinations of these two types of policies. In some instances their coexistence describes progressive steps toward exclusion, while in other instances their basic principles appear contradictory.

Several approaches address drug abuse as a health issue. These are employee assistance programs (EAPs) and peer intervention or union-based member assistance programs (MAPs). A third approach, health promotion, is oriented toward prevention, but does not address employer policy when events ...