How the Drug Problem Affects the Workplace

The federal government reports nearly 14 million adults in the USA currently use illegal drugs. By some estimates nearly three-quarters of current illicit drug users 18 and older are employed. That’s more than 10 million US workers. The federal government claimed that if all workers ages 18-40 were administered a drug test on any given day, as many as 25 per cent would test positive.

Alcohol is, by far, the leading substance abused by Americans. Following alcohol, the leading illegal drug abused in the United States is marijuana. In 2000, approximately 5 per cent of the US population 12 and older (11 million) were marijuana users. Cocaine was second with an estimated 1,5 million current users. Other highly used illegal drugs include heroin with an estimated 325,000 current users.

One of the most revealing studies on how job performance is affected by substance abuse comes from the US Postal Service. The Post Service discovered that substance abusers are involved in 55 per cent more accidents, experience 85 per cent more on-the-job injuries, and have a 78 per cent higher rate of absenteeism when compared to their non-substance abusing co-workers. Drug use adversely affects job performance. The federal government estimates that substance-abusing employees are one-third less productive than their non-using co-workers.

In terms of its impact on human life, the cost of substance abuse is inestimable. From an economic point of view, the cost to the workplace is tremendous. A Wisconsin study concluded that expenses and losses related to substance abuse equal 25 per cent of the salary of each affected employee. The overall price tag has been estimated to be as high as $200 billion annually.

To calculate how much drug abuse is costing your company follow this formula: Multiply $6,600 (the average cost per year per substance abusing employee) by 17 per cent of the number of your employees (the percentage of the total workforce with a substance abuse problem). For example, if you have 65 employees, 17 per cent would be 11 workers. Multiply 11 by the average cost per year, $6,600, and you get a total of $72,600 a year. Now ask yourself – can my company afford to lose nearly $75,000 every year to a problem that I can have some control over?

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