| Contact: |
Prabhu Ponkshe, Health Matrix 703-918-4930
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| Title: |
STUDY FINDS "CASUAL" DRUG USE HAVING NO IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT OR LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
Confirms Strong Negative Impact of Chronic Drug Use on Employment Among Men and Women
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| Principal Investigator: |
Michael French, Ph.D.
, Professor
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| Grant Recipient Organization: |
University of Miami
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WASHINGTON, D.C., October 16, 2001 – A new economic study released today finds that casual drug users and those who do not use drugs are similar in their ability to secure employment and stay in the work force. The study also confirms that chronic drug use has significant negative impacts on employment.
"The results of this study cannot be interpreted in any way to endorse casual drug use. As an economic study of the U.S. labor market, the results only suggest that workplace policies, such as insurance and employee assistance programs, should consider chronic or problem drug users apart from light or casual users," according to the study’s lead author, Dr. Michael French, Ph.D., a health economist with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and the Department of Economics at the University of Miami.
The study, published in the October issue of the Southern Economic Journal, examined a nationally representative working-age sample of about 4,000 men and 5,700 women from the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. It was funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This is the first economic study that has analyzed the relationships between chronic drug use, employment, and labor force participation. It is also significant in that it separates chronic from non-chronic, or casual, drug use using a national survey of the adult household population.
Male chronic drug users who were not employed, the study found, were less likely to be looking for a job, compared to female chronic drug users. The researchers surmised that women with chronic drug use problems might have children and other family obligations, leading to a greater need to stay in the labor force to provide for their families.
"It may be easier for men, on the other hand, to just drop out of the labor force altogether when they have drug problems since they may view their familial responsibilities as less important," according to French.
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Illicit drug use has declined among the U.S. adult population in recent years, but national surveys show that the majority of illicit drug users are employed. Concern about workplace productivity, absenteeism, and safety has led many employers to establish employee assistance and drug testing programs.
"Assuming we know who the chronic and casual drug users are, the economic payoff in the workplace could be much greater if employers and policymakers focused on the problematic – as opposed to the non-problematic or casual – drug user in the same way that they focus on the problematic – as opposed to the casual – drinker."
For this study, chronic drug users included those who used one or more illegal drugs weekly or more frequently during the past year. Non-chronic or casual drug users included those who used any illicit drug during the past year, but not in a chronic nature. The study examined the impact of drug use on three groups of people: those who are "employed" (working full or part time during the past 30 days); "unemployed" (not working, but actively looking for a job during this period); and "not in the labor force" (not employed and not actively looking for work). Retirees, students, homemakers, the permanently disabled, and children would be classified as not participating in the labor force. The study broke out results for men and women separately as they have widely varying labor market behavior.
"We certainly cannot jump to the conclusion that casual drug use should be condoned, as this study looks only at the consequences of drug use on employment status," said French. "It doesn’t examine, for example, the impact of casual drug use on other potential social problems, such as accidents or injuries, use of health services, family disruption, or criminal activity."
Confirmation that chronic drug use has a debilitating effect on employment status for both men and women is consistent with other economic studies of drug use and the workforce. Earlier research, for example, demonstrates that chronic drug users have higher rates of workplace absenteeism and accidents.
The study controlled for a long list of other factors that may affect employment status, such as age, race, education, and marital status. It examined only the working population between ages 25 and 59. Chronic drug users made up four percent of the national sample, non-chronic drug users made up eight percent of the sample, and non-drug users made up 88 percent of the sample.
The Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) is a $54 million program that funds studies into public and private policies affecting alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grant making in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse -- tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.
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