Business: The Rising Problem of Drugs on the Job

FIRST spawned in the ghetto, drug addiction quickly spread to the middle-class suburbs, colleges and high schools. Now, in corporations across the country, the cloying whiff of marijuana in the stairwell and the hastily dumped syringe in the washroom attest to the rapid growth of on-the-job drug users.

In a General Motors plant in Los Angeles, undercover police recently smashed a ring selling drugs at lunchtime from a camper in the parking lot. In Manhattan, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has dismissed more than 100 employees during the past year for using drugs. "Wall Street firms are scared to death about drugs," reports Ernie Odom, an ex-addict who has charged companies $200 for his well-attended seminars on drug detection. In Detroit, an assembly-line worker at the Dodge plant notes: "Guys are always stoned. Either they're high from pills to keep them awake or they're zonked on a joint they had on a break."

Pushing and Lifting. Attorney General John Mitchell estimates that one out of every 40 workers in the U.S. uses drugs illegally. A survey by Chicago's Industrial Relations Newsletter concluded that three out of every four U.S. plants with 50 or more employees have a serious drug problem. The addict's sharply curtailed job performance is only part of the problem for corporations. To support their habit, drug-dependent workers often become pushers and ensnare co-workers into narcotic addiction.

Addicts also account for much of the $2 billion worth of tools, office machinery and other goods stolen from corporations and stores each year. In New York City, which conservatively counts 50,000 heroin addicts, about 80% of the shoplifting is attributed to drug users, including some employed at the stores. Drug abuse is particularly apparent in the stockrooms of major department stores, says Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, director of New York City's Phoenix House drug rehabilitation program.

Hardened drug users in business are generally in their early 20s and usually in low-echelon jobs. The ghetto black is still the heaviest heroin user but as his need for the drug grows, he usually drops out of the labor force. The number of white workers dependent on heroin is increasing, but the whites still tend to less addictive drugs, notably barbiturates and amphetamine capsules. Most users in industry turn on with marijuana, or pot; if nothing else, it can diminish their ability on the job.

A Hint of Quinine. Detecting the on-the-job addict is a much more ticklish task than spotting an alcoholic. The addict's symptoms—dilated eyes, shaky coordination, impaired depth perception —are not always obvious to even trained observers. Because most narcotics are illegal, company officials are cautious about accusing a worker of addiction or even examining his locker; a mistake could lead to a costly lawsuit. William Britter, security official at Western Electric's Los Angeles service center, says: "Most people will agree that employing an undercover agent or informant is the only way to get to the bottom of the problem."