Pharmaceutical drug misuse: are industry of employment and occupation risk factors?

• Date: 01 November 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12115
• Author: Mark N. Harris,Jake Prendergast,Preety Srivastava,Sarah Brown
• Published date: 01 November 2015

Pharmaceutical drug misuse: are industry of

employment and occupation risk factors?

Sarah Brown, Mark N. Harris, Jake Prendergast and

Preety Srivastava

ABSTRACT

We explore the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs in the Australian workforce, focusing

on whether any differences exist between workers in particular industries or occupa-

tions. In terms of industry, being employed in hospitality is positively associated with

pharmaceutical drug misuse, while being employed in finance, insurance and retail is

inversely related. In terms of occupation, we find that being a labourer is positively

related to misuse of pharmaceutical drugs, while being employed in managerial, pro-

fessional, sales, clerical or administrative roles is associated with a lower tendency.

Further analysis of occupational effects revealed that being in a blue-collar occupa-

tion, as a whole, is positively related to pharmaceutical drug misuse relative to

white-collar employment. Moreover, being employed in higher status roles is associ-

ated with a lower likelihood of such behaviour. Our findings imply that particular

workplace pressures, cultural norms and/or working conditions might be influential

factors behind workers’drug misuse.

1 INTRODUCTION

Drug consumption is, understandably, an area of key policy concern in many coun-

tries, given the considerable costs that it imposes on individuals, their families,

workplaces and the wider community. However, while the use of illicit drugs has

been researched extensively

1

, there has been less attention placed on the misuse of

pharmaceutical drugs that can be legally obtained over the counter or with a pre-

scription. The use of pharmaceutical drugs for non-medical purposes has become

a subject of concern in many countries including Australia; the Australian Institute

of Health and Welfare reported that, in 2010, 4.2 per cent of Australians over the

age of 12 had used psychotherapeutic prescription drugs for non-medical purposes

❒Sarah Brown, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, Mark N. Harris and Jake Prendergast, Curtin

University Bentley, Australia and Preety Srivastava, RMIT Melbourne, Australia. Correspondence

should be addressed to Preety Srivastava, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT

Melbourne, Australia; email: pratima.srivastava@rmit.edu.au

1

Empirical studies have played an important role in helping to identify the socio-economic and demo-

graphic factors associated with the consumption of illicit drugs such as marijuana and cocaine (Grossman

and Chaloupka, 1998; Farrelly et al., 1999; Ramful and Zhao, 2009) as well as legal addictive goods such as

alcohol and cigarettes (Chaloupka and Pacula, 1999; Cameron and Williams, 2001; Farrelly et al., 2001).

Industrial Relations Journal 46:5–6, 398–417

ISSN 0019-8692

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

(AIHW 2011). In the USA, the use of prescription drugs for non-medical purposes

has been on a constant rise in recent years with the latest National Survey on

Drug Use and Health indicating 6.5 million Americans (or 2.5 per cent of the

population aged 12 years or older) having reported using psychotherapeutic prescrip-

tion drugs non-medically in 2013 (NSDUH 2013). The death toll from overdose of

such drugs is rising rapidly. Over 800 people died from fatal overdose of prescription

drugs such as painkillers and tranquillisers in the UK in 2012, according to the Office

for National Statistics, compared with around 700 who fell victim to heroin and

cocaine abuse.

There are reasons to believe that the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs is an ongoing

trend, and the rise appears to result from the increased and easy availability of these

drugs, growing social acceptance and, more importantly, the perception that they are safe

(Friedman, 2006; McCarthy, 2007; Twombly and Holtz, 2008). Moreover, pharmaceuti-

cal drug misuse is particularly difficult to monitor and control given the availability of

many drugs both over the counter and online (Nielsen and Barratt, 2009). The growing

number of online pharmacies has developed a new and rapidly expanding marketplace

for pharmaceuticals that may help to explain the increased rates of use reported in recent

survey data (Compton and Volkow, 2006). As pharmaceutical drug misuse becomes

more prevalent, it becomes increasingly important to understand the reasons behind

their consumption, so that effective strategies can be developed to curb this trend.

Helping to address the current lack of research into this topic, this paper examines

the underlying drivers of pharmaceutical drug misuse in Australia. Specifically, we

explore this issue in the context of the workforce and investigate whether there are

particular industries or occupations in which workers are more prone to engage in

pharmaceutical drug misuse.

Given our focus on industry and occupation effects, it is important to consider the

prevailing legislative regulatory settings that can also shape workers’drug-taking

behaviour. In Australia, legislation exists that prohibits workers from carrying out

their job duties under the influence of drugs or alcohol, largely enacted for a specific

industry or jurisdiction (e.g. the Western Australia Mines Safety and Inspection

Regulation 1995). In addition, most jurisdictions have standards, codes and guidelines

that are designed to assist employers to formulate their own workplace policies,

including how to implement safeguards to manage employees who take prescription

medications. In Western Australia (WA), for example, guidelines are administered

through WorkSafe WA. Many employers have responded to this legislation by

implementing their own workplace drug testing procedures.

While workplace drug testing is fairly common across the Australian workforce

generally, it is concentrated in industries where safety is of critical importance, such

as mining, transportation and police and correctional services. In more recent years,

workplace drug testing appears to have become a more acceptable practice in

Australia, in light of a 2011 decision by Fair Work Australia that workplace drug

testing—despite not being spelt out explicitly as an employer’s right in legislated

contracts—is legal in Australia as it enables employers to fulfil their duty of care

and occupational health and safety obligations. Following this decision, some union

divisions have come to voice support for mandatory testing. The existence of these

legislation and workplace drug testing procedures would be expected, all other factors

399Industry, occupation and pharmaceutical drug misuse

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd