Substance Abuse in the Workplace

Author

Elouise Mintz, Fontbonne College

Year of Award

1992

Degree

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

College

College of Business & Professional Studies

Degree Program

Business Administration

Department

Business Administration

Keywords

alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, addiction, treatment, alcoholism, drug testing, pcp

Abstract

Substance abuse is a major problem in our society today. In particular, however, business organizations throughout our nation are grasping for solutions to this devastating epidemic.

Employers used to feel that what employees did on the company's time was the company's business, and what they did on their own time was their business. However, this is no longer the case. When dealing with substance abuse, it is a fact that what people do on their time can greatly affect their behavior and actions on company time. In addition, most people who are chemically dependent do not distinguish between the company's time and their time. All of the time is their time.

For these reasons and more, many business organizations throughout our nation are seeking help or ways to handle the issue of substance abuse in the workplace; whether it be alcoholism or drug addiction. Alcoholism used to be the most common and most talked about form of substance abuse. Today, it is still the most prevalent. However, as we all know, drug addiction is on the rise. Not only are we fighting a battle against the usage of marijuana or heroin, but we are fighting a battle against the deadly and addictive derivatives of cocaine such as "crack" and "the rock." Also, in a lot of cases, the chemical dependent is abusing both alcohol and drugs. The point is that no matter what the chemical is, if the abuser has a job, the employer will be hurt in various ways as a result of this addiction.

The objective of any company is to be profitable and productive. Absenteeism, low employee output, theft, errors, and extra health care programs are all examples of the various ways by which an employer could be hurt due to substance abuse. These examples could become very costly to the company. Not only would the company lose monetarily, but the result could very well be the loss of life.

Addiction can be defined as the uncontrollable use of something habit forming. If the use is uncontrollable, then how can the business organization fight it? Before the organization can alleviate or fight this problem, the company must first understand the problem.

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Recommended Citation

Mintz, Elouise, "Substance Abuse in the Workplace" (1992). All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects. 327.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/all-etds/327