Drug Use Estimator

Drug use among U.S. workers has been linked to a host of economic, social, and public health problems. A substantial body of research shows that worker drug use and heavy alcohol use are associated with lower productivity, employee absenteeism, workplace accidents, and higher health insurance costs.

There is a significant correlation of Substance Abuse with three specific factors in the data:
1) Establishment Size. Percentage of employees reporting substance abuse varies inversely with the size of the company.
2) Occupation. Percentage of substance abuse is significantly higher for Construction; Sales; Food Preparation, Waitstaff & Bartenders; Handlers, Helpers & Laborers; and, Machine Operators & Inspectors.
3) Substance Abuse Testing. Only 22.5% of small companies have a drug testing program, and their reported illicit drug use is 11.0%. By contrast, 68.4% of large companies have drug testing programs, and their reported illicit drug use rate is only 5.4%.

In addition, drug and alcohol use are associated with gender, age, and income. Thus, an industry or occupation that draws disproportionate numbers of young males (construction, for example), and also has a relatively small average establishment size, is more likely to exhibit higher rates of drug use.  {Drug Use Estimator }