NCJ Number
178162
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 341-364
Date Published
1999
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Using data from a large, representative sample of the U.S. population, this study provides a detailed analysis of the relationships among drug use, work-related accidents, and employee turnover.
Abstract
Data were obtained from the 1994 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The NHSDA is the principal source of data on the prevalence of drug use in the United States. As the NHSDA is not an employment survey per se, the researchers validated the distributions of workers in the NHSDA by comparing them with the distributions of workers reported in the 1994 Current Population Survey. Four categorical measures of drug use were employed. The first two were designed to gauge an individual's historic pattern of illicit drug use by focusing on marijuana and cocaine; the third focused on alcohol abuse, and the fourth measured the negative behavioral and social consequences of drug use. Study results both converge and diverge from previous studies. In agreement with several studies, the researchers found that the frequency and history of measures of marijuana and cocaine use, frequency of drunkenness, and symptoms of drug dependence did not affect the likelihood of a work- related accident. The results of the analysis of job turnover in the past year are relatively consistent with past research; however, unlike several studies, the current analysis specifies whether job turnover is due to being fired or resigning from a job. Findings show that several types of drug use were related to the risk of being fired or resigning from a job in the previous year. The risk of being fired varied by occupation. 4 tables, 6 notes, and 43 references