Workplace Context to Prevent Substance Misuse in the United States: Associations Between workplace Policies and Employee Substance Use Disorders

• Published date: 01 January 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00220426231152913
• Author: Daejun Park,Dane Minnick
• Date: 01 January 2024
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Journal of Drug Issues

2024, Vol. 54(1) 90–104

© The Author(s) 2023

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00220426231152913

journals.sagepub.com/home/jod

Workplace Context to Prevent

Substance Misuse in the United

States: Associations Between

workplace Policies and

Employee Substance Use

Disorders

Daejun Park

1

and Dane Minnick

2

Abstract

Workplace policies are important because employee rates of alcohol and drug misuse can be

associated with work-related risk factors in the United States. To explore the associations, this

study analyzed the 2010–2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health datasets. The overall

sample size was 130,726, and the SUD outcome variables included alcohol, marijuana, pain

reliever, and illicit drug use disorders. 20% of participants reported no substance use policies in

their workplace. Signif‌icant associations were identif‌ied between all four measured SUD outcome

variables, the presence of specif‌ic substance use workplace policies, and individual employment

sectors. Specif‌ically, comprehensive policies out of six policies were signif‌icantly associated with

decreased SUDs in nearly every employment sector. The results of this study suggest that

workplace substance use policies are important to prevent the development of employee SUDs

and comprehensive policies in place can be most effective.

Keywords

workplace policy, substance use disorders, goods-producing industry, service-providing industry,

substance use prevention, adult prevention

Introduction

The prevention of substance misuse has historically been a signif‌icant public health policy goal in

the United States over the past several decades. Federal grant programs such as Drug Free

Communities have created community prevention coalitions that implement environmental

1

Department of Social Work, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

2

Department of Social Work, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA

Corresponding Author:

Daejun Park, Department of Social Work, Ohio University, Morton 524, Athens, OH 45701, USA.

Email: parkd@ohio.edu