NCJ Number
133727
Journal
Time Dated: (March 17, 1986) Pages: 52-61
Date Published
1986
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The campaign against drugs including alcohol in the workplace is described.
Abstract
Companies such as Commonwealth Edison in Chicago are setting up antidrug education and rehabilitation programs, offering treatment to users who come forward, and threatening to fire those caught with drugs at work. Most significant and controversial is the testing of employees and job applicants for drugs with urinalysis or hair analysis procedures, particularly since the President's Commission on Organized Crime asked all United States companies to test their employees for drug use. The drug problem seems to be most prevalent among young adults. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that about two-thirds of the people entering the work force has used illegal drugs and 44 percent have taken them during the past year. Cocaine is a popular drug used at work, because its use cannot be detected easily and it gives a false sense of improved performance. Drug abuse is not just a product of the corporate world, it also involves other professionals such as physicians and lawyers and the blue collar work force as well.