And medical insurance companies have been indifferent to pleas from proponents to foot the costs of drug testing and rehabilitation programs. But they haven't been reaching back. With no insurance help and relatively expensive support programs, many small and medium-sized companies decide they can't afford the luxury of programs designed to fight drug abuse on the job. But that's a miscalculation, say federal drug experts. Even employers who don't sense a significant drug problem in their work force would be well-advised to lay plans to deal with abuse, the experts said.
Most abusers look just like their co-workers, they note.
Some 70 percent of people who use illegal drugs hold full-time jobs, the experts say. There were an estimated 6.3 million illicit drug users and 6.2 million heavy alcohol users among the 81.8 million people in America's work force in 1997. The problem is particularly serious among workers in the restaurant, construction and transportation industries. Some 19 percent of food preparation workers, waiters, waitresses and bartenders use drugs, for instance. Some 44 percent of employees who abuse drugs work for companies with fewer than 25 people, the new study indicates.