Prevalence of Alcohol and other Drug Use on the Job: Cause for Concern or Irrational Hysteria?

• Author: Michael D. Newcomb
• Published date: 01 July 1994
• Date: 01 July 1994
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/002204269402400303
• Subject Matter: Article

The Journal of Drug Issues 24(3),403-416 1994

PREVALENCE

OF

ALCOHOL

AND

OTHER

DRUG

USE

ON

THE

JOB:

CAUSE

FOR

CONCERN

OR

IRRATIONAL

HYSTERIA?

Michael D. Newcomb

There is widespread fear. concern, and apprehension regarding the

problems associated with alcohol and other drug abuse in the workplace.

Serious tragedies caused by drug use on the job, such as the Exxon Valdez.

have created an hysteria that such behavior is commonand that intoxicated

employees are pervasive in the workforce. While there are few doubts that

using drugs in the workplace may have serious consequences, the true

extent

of

such behavior is poorly documented. Prevalence data for drug

use on the job are found in three sources: perceptions

of

supervisors and

employers,' reports

of

such behaviorfrom those in treatment for drug abuse;

and general community or workforce surveys. The first two sources

of

data

confirm the hysteria that drug abuse on the job is rampant and out

of

control. However. these estimates are biased and untrustworthy. In

general population surveys. a wide range

of

estimates are found. although

most report the prevalence

of

drug use on the job at 10% or less; being

high on the job occurs more often, but regular use

of

drugs in the

workplace is quite rare. Therefore. the general hysteria regarding the

presumed pervasive abuse

of

drugs on the job is unfounded. although any

abuse

of

drugs in the workplace by those in sensitive positio'!s can have

grave and deadly consequences.

The

Exxon Valdez catastrophe and other tragedies caused by abuse of drugs

on the job have generated a national panic and hysteria regarding the abuse of

drugs in the workplace. Urine testing for illicit drugs of abuse is common and

accepted in many workplaces in the form of pre-employment screening, random

tests, and for cause (e.g., McDonald and Roman 1994; Newcomb 1992).

However, alcohol is rarely tested for in these circumstances (with the exception of

the transportation industry), even though it is probably the most abused drug in the

workplace (with the gross neglect of tobacco and caffeine) (Newcomb 1992).

From an historical perspective, alcohol use on the job has been relatively

commonplace for centuries (Fillmore 1984). Similarly, coca leaf has been chewed

by Andean workers for millennia with few ill effects (Siegel 1989), whereas

opium was commonly used by Chinese immigrants while constructing the

Michael D. Newcomb. Ph.D .• is professor of counseling psychology and chairman of the Divisionof Counseling

and Educational Psychology at USc. He is also research psychologist and co-director of the Substance Abuse

ResearchCenter in the psychologydepartment at UCLA. His research interests

include:

etiologyand consequences

of adolescent drug abuse; structural equation modeling methodology. and multivariate analysis; human sexuality;

health psychology;attitudes and affect related to nuclear war; and cohabitation. marriage and divorce. Send reprint

requests 10 Dr. Michael D. Newcomb. Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology. University of Southern

California. Los Angeles. CA 90089-0031.

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