Workplace Drug Use

According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 17.9 million adult Americans acknowledged illicit drug use, and 13.4 million of these individuals were employed either full- or part-time. Thus, the majority of people (74.9%) who use drugs were concurrently employed. Workplace drug use can be broadly defined as the use of a psychoactive substance in such a way that it negatively affects safety at work or work productivity. Harmful substance use impacts the workplace directly through employee intoxication and indirectly through resulting social and health problems, both causing a financial strain on the economy. To better understand the scope of workplace drug use, it is necessary to identify common substances used, specify the demographics of prevalent users, and understand the impact ...