CURRENT ILLICIT DRUG AND HEAVY ALCOHOL USE BY OCCUPATION

 All OAS reports on substance use and mental health among workers

Worker Report from 1997 NHSDA

CHAPTER 2: CURRENT ILLICIT DRUG USE AND HEAVY ALCOHOL USE BY DEMOGRAPHIC, AND WORKPLACE CHARACTERISTICS

This chapter provides descriptive information on full-time workers, age 18-49, who reported current illicit drug use or heavy alcohol use in 1997 as compared to 1994. The prevalence of current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use is examined by the respondents' demographic characteristics such as age and gender, and workplace characteristics such as establishment size and occupation. The purpose of this chapter is to describe those reporting drug use in more detail and also to find possible associations of drug use to basic demographic and workplace characteristics. Another purpose is to highlight significant differences between the 1994 and 1997 surveys.

The main findings for this chapter are listed below:

In 1997, the rate of current illicit drug use was higher among 18-25 year olds, males, whites, those with less than high school education, and those who reported annual personal income of less than $9,000 than among older workers, females, blacks and Hispanics, those with education achievement of high school or higher, and those who reported personal income higher than $9,000.

The distribution by demographic characteristics of current heavy alcohol users was similar to that of current illicit drug users, except that the rate of heavy alcohol use for workers reporting personal income of $9,000-$19,999 was higher than for other higher income categories.

In 1997, workers in small establishments reported the highest rate of current illicit drug use; workers in medium-sized establishments reported the highest rate of heavy alcohol use.

The rate of current illicit drug use in medium-sized establishments increased between 1994 and 1997. During the same time period, the rates of current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use in small establishments decreased.

Among the categories studied, food preparation workers, waiters, waitresses, and bartenders; construction workers; other service occupations workers; workers in transportation and material moving reported the highest rates of current illicit drug use.

Current heavy alcohol use was found to be more prevalent among handlers, helpers and laborers; construction workers; precision production and repair workers; other service workers; and workers in transportation and material moving.

2.4 Discussion

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 prevalence 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 2.4 Percentage of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Current Illicit Drug and Heavy Alcohol Use, by Occupation Categories, 1994 and 1997
Occupation Category		Current Illicit Drug Use				Heavy Alcohol Use1
		1994	1997	Diff.2		1994	1997	Diff.2
Total		7.6	7.7	0.1		8.4	7.5	-0.9
Executive, Administrative & Managerial		5.5	8.9	3.4		6.5	7.1	0.6
Professional Specialty		5.1	5.1	0.1		4.3	4.4	0.1
Technicians & Related Support		5.5	7.0	1.5		6.2	5.1	-1.1
Sales		11.4	9.1	-2.3		8.3	4.1	-4.2b
Administrative Support		5.9	3.2	-2.8a		3.5	5.1	1.7
Protective Service		3.2	3.0	-0.3		6.3	7.8	1.5
Food Preparation, Waiters, Waitresses & Bartenders		11.4	18.7	7.3		12.2	15.0	2.8
Other Service		5.6	12.5	6.9		5.1	11.4	6.4
Precision Production & Repair		7.9	4.4	-3.5		13.1	11.6	-1.5
Construction		15.6	14.1	-1.4		17.6	12.4	-5.2
Extractive & Precision Production		8.6	4.4	-4.1		12.9	5.5	-7.4a
Machine Operators & Inspectors		10.5	8.9	-1.6		13.5	9.0	-4.6
Transportation & Material Moving		5.3	10.0	4.7		13.1	10.8	-2.3
Handlers, Helpers & Laborers		10.6	6.5	-4.1		15.7	13.5	-2.2

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.

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.

Worker Report from 1994 NHSDA

CHAPTER 4: CURRENT ILLICIT DRUG AND HEAVY ALCOHOL USE BY OCCUPATION

In addition to indicating the size of the establishment at which they worked, NHSDA respondents also provided information on their primary job—type of work, job title, specific duties, and the type of business or industry in which they worked. From this information respondents were coded into one of the fourteen occupational categories listed in Table 4.1. Thus establishment size and occupation are the two workplace characteristics employed in these analyses. The occupation categories correspond to those used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (1987) with two important exceptions. First, the category Service occupations is divided in this report into three groups: Protective Service; Food Preparation, Waitstaff, and Bartenders; and Other Service. These groups are used since analysis with earlier years of the NHSDA indicated that there was substantial variation in drug use rates among these three groups of service workers (Hoffmann et al., 1996). Second, information is not provided on workers in Farming, Fishing, and Forestry since there were too few respondents in this occupation category to yield accurate estimates.

4.1 Distribution of Current Illicit Drug and Heavy Alcohol Use by Occupation

As shown in Figure 1.1 and discussed in Chapter 1, 7.6 percent of full-time workers age 18-49 reported current illicit drug use and 8.4 percent reported heavy alcohol use. These overall percentages also appear as reference points at the top of Table 4.1. As can be seen from Table 4.1, current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use varied considerably across occupational categories. Construction workers had the highest rate of both current illicit drug and heavy alcohol use at 15.6 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively. The rate of current illicit drug use among construction workers was significantly higher than the rate among members of any other group except those in food preparation, sales workers, or handlers and helpers. Disproportionately high rates of current illicit drug use were seen among workers in sales occupations (11.4%), employees in food preparation, including waitstaff and bartenders (11.2%), and those engaged as either handlers, helpers, or laborers (10.6%) or as machine operators or inspectors (10.5%). The occupation categories with above-average rates of heavy alcohol use, in addition to construction, were handlers, helpers, and laborers (15.7%), machine operators and inspectors (13.5%), transportation and material movers (13.1%), precision production and repair workers (13.1%), and employees in food preparation, including waitstaff and bartenders (12.2%).

At the lower end of the drug or heavy alcohol use spectrum, workers in protective services displayed the lowest rate of current illicit drug use (3.2%); those in administrative support occupations reported the lowest rate of heavy alcohol use (3.5%).

Although in many instances current illicit drug and heavy alcohol use among workers followed similar patterns—both were relatively high, as in construction, or low, as in the executive, administrative and managerial category—there are obvious exceptions. For example, in some occupations—such as protective services, precision production and repair, or transportation and material moving—rates of current illicit drug use among workers were noticeably lower than rates of heavy alcohol use. In contrast, workers in sales or administrative support occupations had higher rates of current illicit drug use than heavy alcohol use.

With regard to the distributions presented in Table 4.1, some caution is in order. For example, as noted above in Chapters 2 and 3, among full-time workers rates of current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use declined with age, were higher among males than females, and varied by income, race/ethnicity, and the size of the establishment in which they worked (the latter with regard to current illicit drug use only). Thus to the extent that a specific occupation attracts or requires the skills (such as physical strength) of a particular sociodemographic group, is seen by workers as an entry-level position, or is associated with smaller establishment size, the overall rate of current illicit drug use or heavy alcohol use within an occupation may be confounded by these other factors. Construction, an occupation that is disproportionately male, and food- or beverage-related positions, which are staffed heavily by those in younger age and lower income categories, are cases in point. [The average age among full-time workers, age 18-49, in the 1994-B NHSDA was 34.7. Among workers in food service, waitstaff, and bartending occupations the average age was 30.0. Moreover, while only 8.9 percent of full-time workers, age 18-49, reported personal incomes of less than $9,000 per year, 35.8 percent of workers in food service, waitstaff, and bartending occupations reported personal incomes of less than $9,000 per year. Finally, although 58.9 percent of full-time workers, age 18-49, were male, 98.5 percent of construction workers were male.] Furthermore, as mentioned in Chapter 1, the NHSDA does not include information on the timing of use that would indicate the extent to which current illicit drug use or heavy alcohol use is associated with impaired job performance.

Table 4.1 Percentage of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Current Illicit Drug Use and Heavy Alcohol Use, By Occupation Categories, 1994

Occupation Category

Current Illicit Drug Use

Heavy Alcohol Use

Total

7.6

8.4

Executive, Administrative & Managerial

5.5

6.5

Professional Specialty

5.1

4.3

Technicians & Related Support

5.5

6.2

Sales

11.4

8.3

Administrative Support

5.9

3.5

Protective Service

3.2

6.3

Food Preparation, Waitstaff & Bartenders

11.2

12.2

Other Service

5.6

5.1

Precision Production & Repair

7.9

13.1

Construction

15.6

17.6

Extractive & Precision Production

8.6

12.9

Machine Operators & Inspectors

10.5

13.5

Transportation & Material Moving

5.3

13.1

Handlers, Helpers & Laborers

10.6

15.7

Note: Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on five or more occasions in the previous 30 days.

Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994-B.

This page was last updated on January 16, 2009.

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