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Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs: Results from the 1994 and 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse |
Some cautions are in order when interpreting the results. Although current illicit drug users and heavy alcohol users tended to be younger and male, and have lower education and lower income, the clustering of illicit drug users in small establishments and heavy alcohol users in medium-size establishments and in some occupations might reflect self-selection of workers who use drugs into these establishments. For example, young males with low education might be attracted to construction jobs because these are entry-level jobs that do not require a high
school diploma. The association of high rates of drug use with construction jobs might simply reflect the demographic composition of this occupation, rather than a causal relationship. To sort out the inter-relationship among drug use, demographic characteristics, and workplace characteristics, it is preferable to use multivariate logistic regression, which are addressed in Chapter 6.
A noticeable change from 1994 to 1997 is the shift of current illicit drug users and alcohol users from small to medium-size establishments (see Figures 2.3 and 2.4). There could be many factors driving this change. First, the distribution of establishments in general shows a slight increase in medium-size establishments from 42.7 percent in 1994 to 43.4 percent in 1997, and a slight decrease in the small establishments from 18.4 percent in 1994 to 17.4 percent in 1997. However, the differences in the two years are not significant and cannot account for the dramatic shift of current illicit drug users and heavy alcohol users from small to medium-size establishments. Secondly, the demographic composition in small and medium-size establishments could have changed between the two years such that medium-sized establishment had more worker who were younger, male, etc. (i.e., those who were more likely to use illicit drugs or to use alcohol heavily). Finally, industries and occupations that have higher prevalences of employee drug use might have undergone some structural changes (e.g., industry-wide mergers or acquisitions) that increased their average size from small to medium. Testing this hypothesis is beyond the scope of this report.
Table 2.1 Percentage of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Current Illicit Drug and Current Heavy Alcohol Use, by Demographic Characteristics, 1994 and 1997
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| Demographic Characteristics |
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| Total |
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| Age Group
18-25 26-34 35-49 |
12.4 8.6 5.4 |
13.5 7.2 6.3 |
13.6 8.9 6.3 |
11.7 7.9 6.3 |
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| Gender
Male Female |
9.3 5.2 |
9.8 4.6 |
11.9 3.3 |
11.1 2.5 |
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| Race/Ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic |
8.3 6.5 5.6 |
8.5 6.2 5.2 |
8.9 5.2 8.8 |
8.1 4.4 9.8 |
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| Education
Less than high school High school graduate Some college College graduate |
9.7 8.3 7.5 6.1 |
11.2 7.9 8.7 5.2 |
13.2 10.0 8.3 4.7 |
14.7 7.1 7.3 5.8 |
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| Region
Northeast North Central South West |
7.6 7.4 8.2 6.7 |
5.6 9.0 7.1 9.3 |
8.1 11.1 8.4 5.6 |
8.0 8.8 7.2 6.8 |
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| Personal Income
Less than $9,000 $9,000-$19,999 $20,000-$39,999 $40,000-$74,999 $75,000 or more |
13.3 9.5 6.2 4.4 12.1 |
14.5 8.6 6.7 6.7 9.3 |
9.3 10.8 7.1 8.1 5.7 |
9.1 9.4 7.3 8.1 2.1 |
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rounding error. Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on five or more days in the past 30 days.
Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994B, 1997.
Table 2.2 Distribution of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Current Illicit Drug and Current Heavy Alcohol Use, by Demographic Characteristics, 1994 and 1997
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| Demographic Characteristics |
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| Total (in 1000's)
(Total Percent) |
(100.0) |
(100.0) |
(100.0) |
(100.0) |
(100.0) |
(100.0) |
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| Age Group
(%)
18-25 26-34 35-49 |
26.6 36.1 37.2 |
28.3 28.0 43.7 |
26.7 34.0 39.4 |
24.8 31.0 44.2 |
16.3 31.8 51.9 |
16.2 29.9 53.9 |
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| Gender (%)
Male Female |
71.9 28.1 |
75.9 24.1 |
83.8 16.2 |
86.5 13.5 |
58.9 41.1 |
59.5 40.5 |
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| Race/Ethnicity
(%)
White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic |
82.1 9.4 7.1 |
81.1 8.8 7.5 |
79.9 6.9 10.1 |
78.7 6.3 14.3 |
78.5 11.5 10.0 |
77.0 11.5 11.5 |
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| Education (%)
Less than high school High school graduate Some college College graduate |
14.8 36.4 24.7 24.0 |
16.5 34.0 30.4 19.0 |
18.4 39.9 24.8 16.9 |
22.0 30.9 25.9 21.2 |
11.6 33.3 24.9 30.1 |
11.4 33.4 27.1 28.1 |
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| Region (%)
Northeast North Central South West |
18.1 23.4 39.4 19.2 |
12.9 27.4 35.2 24.6 |
17.3 31.6 36.4 14.7 |
18.7 27.2 36.0 18.1 |
17.9 23.8 36.4 21.9 |
17.8 23.5 38.4 20.4 |
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| Personal Income
(%)
Less than $9,000 $9,000-$19,999 $20,000-$39,999 $40,000-$74,999 $75,000 or more |
15.4 36.1 32.2 11.1 5.3 |
13.0 28.8 33.7 17.7 6.7 |
9.6 36.7 33.2 18.3 2.2 |
8.2 31.7 37.0 21.6 1.7 |
8.9 28.9 39.6 19.3 3.3 |
7.1 26.5 39.7 20.9 5.7 |
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rounding error. Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on five or more days in the past 30 days.
Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994B, 1997.
| Table 2.3 Percentage and Estimated Number of Illicit Drug and Heavy Alcohol Users Among Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, by Establishment Size, 1994 and 1997 | ||||||||
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| Establishment Size |
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| Total | 7.6 | 5,895,000 | 8.4 | 6,568,000 | 100.0 | 77,842,000 | ||
| 1-24 Employees | 11.0 | 3,336,000 | 9.6 | 2,896,000 | 38.9 | 30,251,000 | ||
| 25-499 Employees | 5.4 | 1,783,000 | 7.9 | 2,626,000 | 42.7 | 33,234,000 | ||
| 500+ Employees | 5.4 | 776,000 | 7.3 | 1,046,000 | 18.4 | 14,357,000 | ||
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| Total | 7.7 | 6,266,000 | 7.6 | 6,190,000 | 100.0 | 81,282,000 | ||
| 1-24 Employees | 8.6a | 2,752,000 | 7.0b | 2,223,000 | 39.2 | 31,894,000 | ||
| 25-499 Employees | 7.6b | 2,694,000 | 8.3 | 2,921,000 | 43.4 | 35,250,000 | ||
| 500+ Employees | 5.8 | 820,000 | 7.4 | 1,046,000 | 17.4 | 14,139,000 | ||
numbers found in other tables due to missing values on the establishment size variable.
1 Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of at least five days in the previous 30 days.
a Difference between 1994 and 1997 is statistically significant at the .05 level.
b Difference between 1994 and 1997 is statistically significant at the .01 level.
Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994B, 1997.
| Table 2.4 Percentage of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Current Illicit Drug and Heavy Alcohol Use, by Occupation Categories, 1994 and 1997 | ||||||||
| Occupation Category |
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| Total |
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| Executive, Administrative & Managerial |
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| Professional Specialty |
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| Technicians & Related Support |
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| Sales |
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| Administrative Support |
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| Protective Service |
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| Food Preparation, Waiters, Waitresses & Bartenders |
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| Other Service |
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| Precision Production & Repair |
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| Construction |
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| Extractive & Precision Production |
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| Machine Operators & Inspectors |
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| Transportation & Material Moving |
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| Handlers, Helpers & Laborers |
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2 Diff. Refers to the percentage difference between 1997 and 1994.
a Difference between 1994 and 1997 is statistically significant at the .05 level.
b Difference between 1994 and 1997 is statistically significant at the .01 level.
Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994 and 1997.
