From the Desk of: Rob Kasprzak

August 13, 2007 - The Community Partnership is exploring substance abuse prevention in the workplace

According to a 2007 SAMHSA report, past month illicit drug use among adult full-time workers was 8.2 percent. Nearly one out of five (19.0 percent) workers aged 18 to 25 used illicit drugs during the past month. This was a higher percentage than among the 26-to-34 (10.3 percent), 35-to-49 (7.0 percent), and 50-to-64 (2.6 percent) age groups. Males were more likely than females to report past month illicit drug use (9.7 vs. 6.2 percent). Males accounted for about two thirds (6.4 million) of the workers who reported past month illicit drug use. An estimated 6.4 percent, or 7.3 million, of full-time workers reported use of marijuana during the past month. Workers in the Midwest had the highest prevalence of past year heavy alcohol use (10.6 vs. 8.4 percent in the Northeast, 8.5 percent in the South, and 7.8 percent in the West). And finally, the major occupational groups for 2002 through 2004, food service workers (17.4 percent) and construction workers (15.1 percent) exhibited a higher prevalence of past month illicit drug use than other occupational groups.

In view of this information, The Community Partnership has decided to expand it’s prevention activities into creating a Drug Free Workplace program in northwest Ohio by October 1, 2007. The project will offer employee and supervisor trainings, policy development, and training of trainers.