Drug Testing Programs at the Workplace Improve Productivity

Employees are an important asset for running a business. They need to have the necessary skills and above all, health to perform optimally at workplace. If employees are under the influence of psychotropic substances, it is likely to hit their productivity massively. Drug testing programs are an option worth to consider preventing such a situation. This article emphasizes the use of drug testing programs at workplace and explains how they are beneficial.
Workplace productivity is important for employers:
Employers are focused on maintaining optimal productivity at workplace. Productivity plays an important role in healthy growth of the business, growth of employees and profitability of the enterprise in the long run.


Drug free environment in workplace creates a good working environment to all employees, this in turn, improves a competitive functioning for achieving higher productivity. Drug tests at working places help improve concentration on job performance, moral values and attendance. These testing programs during before and after employment makes it sure to hire healthy workforce.
When working places are affected by the illicit drug abuse, it affects the action of other employees too. Drug testing helps improve the safety levels; performance of employee's which are the critical factors for successful functioning of business.
Deterrent to employees:
Conducting these tests at workplace acts as a deterrent to employees; they fear of being caught. It might also lead to consequences such as mandatory health checkup - in house or sending the employee for a referral program. All this is likely to be embarrassing to employees. Drug testing, therefore, works as an effective deterrent to employees.
Better employee attitude:
Drug-free working environment improves relationship among employees and they can work with a team spirit that leads to healthy relationship among employees and employers. When employees are healthy, they are more likely to have a positive attitude towards the job.
Employers' expenditure on healthcare reduces:
Drug testing leads to reduction in number of visits by the employee's to hospitals because the employee stays away from drugs. Consequently, there are fewer ailments and complications, the hospitalization charges of which are expensive. The number of insurance claims on the employee's tends to decrease. This in turn, reduces expenses on premium for employees' health insurance coverage.
Less number of casualties and therefore less insurance claims:
Studies reveal that drug tests conducted at companies on a regular basis reduce the risk of accidents by 71.2% annually and thus ensure safety at workplace. When employee's safety and health is protected, businesses can considerably reduce expenses on insurance claims.
Companies that make mandatory tests on their employee's for reducing drug abuse will help in reducing significant amount on insurance premiums because insurers charge higher premium for such employees. When there are fewer accidents, the number of insurance claims decrease as well. Insurers are likely to provide insurance at lower cost on employer's by providing discounts on premium payments when the workplaces are drug-free.
To accomplish a drug free environment at workplace, an effective method of enforcing drug testing program is, using test kits. These kits are reliable, fast, accurate and economical. These kits have been approved by FDA and have been standardized by SAMHSA.
Drug testing programs are beneficial to both employers and employees. They help increase productivity and profitability of businesses.



Does the Method of Taking a Drug Affect How Addictive It Is?


Most people know that there's more than one way to take a drug, but it's less common knowledge that the method of administration can also affect how easy it is for a user to become addicted. One of the main reasons for this is that different methods of administrating will speed up or slow down how quickly that drug gets into your blood stream.
Most drugs need to get to the user's brain to have their characteristic effects, so the quicker a drug hits the blood stream, the faster it will get to the brain and kick in the effect the user is trying to create. This is where the connection between the method of administration and the likelihood of addiction comes into play.
A big part of whether or not you'll become addicted to a drug is based on how quickly it can start affecting your brain chemistry. Many drugs work by making the brain release chemicals like dopamine or blocking the re-uptake of these same chemicals (causing them to stick around and affect the body longer.) The quicker the "pleasure chemicals" like dopamine can get released, and thus the harder they hit your system, the higher the likelihood that you will get addicted to the drug that caused the reaction to take place.
Because of this connection, it's important for families to know how the ways of taking drugs will affect the body and how addictive they can make a drug.
Inhaling is one of the most common ways of taking a drug. Inhaling means taking a smoke, vapor or other gas into the lungs, and is this is the method used every time someone smokes cigarettes or marijuana. It is also the method used when someone "huffs" chemical vapors.
When tobacco or marijuana smoke (or any other drug vapor) enters the lungs, it is very easy for these chemicals to cross into the bloodstream. This is because the lungs are designed to let oxygen and carbon dioxide quickly pass into and out of the bloodstream as well. Due to this, inhaled drugs can start to affect the body and brain very quickly.
Snorting
Snorting means inhaling a drug into the nasal cavity. It is the main method of administration for powdered cocaine. Because of the mucous membranes in this cavity (which are similar to the mucous membrane in the lungs), snorting can also lead to a quick high, but this method usually takes longer than inhaling a drug.
For this reason, some uses will try to smoke a drug in a form like crack cocaine instead of using a form that can be snorted.
One of the most common drugs on the planet is alcohol, and it is used by ingesting it (drinking it.) Other drugs that can be ingested include prescription drugs and marijuana. Marijuana is ingested by mixing it in with foods like "pot brownies."
When these drugs are brought into the stomach and digested, they pass into the bloodstream through the stomach lining. This is usually a slower method of bringing the drug into the blood stream, however.
Injecting a drug is the fastest way to administer it to the brain. The reason for this is that the drug is being introduced directly into the bloodstream through a needle, and from there it can reach the brain in moments. Heroin is one of the main drugs used by injection.
Because it is the fastest method of administration, injection can also cause higher rates of addiction than other drugs. This method hits the brain like a sledgehammer, causing spikes in brain chemicals that can quickly cause the user's body to start adjusting into a state of addiction.
By knowing these methods of drug administration, families have that much more education about this major problem in society. Use this information to help your family stay drug-free.

The Connection Between Unemployment and Drug Abuse


Drug abuse can cause many problems in a person's life, including leading to losing one's job. Often unable to show up to work on time or be trusted to complete tasks correctly, many addicts have difficulty holding down a well-paying job. The other side of the coin, however, is that not having a job can also lead to drug use.
There are many reasons why drug addicts first use drugs, but not having a job can be a major one. There are several reasons for this. The first is simple boredom. Without a purpose to fill the day, one can only watch so much TV and browse the internet for so long. Many addicts that started out unemployed say that they were simply bored when a friend or acquaintance first offered them an illegal drug. Due to a lack of anywhere to be or anything to do, these drugs could add excitement and pleasure to otherwise dull days.
Another reason that unemployment can lead to drug abuse is due to the stress inherent in being out of a job. Without consistent, paying work, adults usually start to fear what will happen to them. Some obvious stressors include wondering how one will pay the bills or rent, purchase groceries and gas, etc. Finding a job itself costs money in printing out resumes and driving to interviews. Every day that a person goes unemployed, the stress builds and builds.
Drugs can seem like a path out of this stress. Because of their near-instant effects of artificial calmness, euphoria or optimism, these drugs can work as a temporary stopgap against the pressure and despair of being out of a job. When the drug's effect wears off, however, the addict is right back where he started, but his stress can be even higher. He now has even less money than when he started, because drugs are expensive.
This use can start a vicious cycle. The person is using drugs because he is running out of money, but the drug use itself causes him to lose more money. Realizing this, the addict will often use the drug again so he can once again slip back into a stress-free, blissful state. The cycle only ends when the addict completely burns out or eventually gets help.
The idea that unemployment can cause drug abuse isn't just an anecdotal story or a nice theory, though: several studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between high unemployment and higher drug use. The two seem to go hand-in-hand.
While all families should be aware of and watchful for the signs of drug addiction in their loved ones, this shows us that special care should be taken when someone we know or care about loses their job. While it may be difficult to immediately get them back into employment, you can help mitigate the chances of them starting to abuse drugs.
One way of doing that we have found successful is helping them focus on keeping purpose in their life. Help them work on applying for other jobs. Encourage them to spend time with family and friends (ideally ones that don't do drugs themselves, of course.) Help the person focus on the goal of returning to the work force, but also help them find productive ways to spend their time until that happens. We may not always see unemployment coming, but we can help ensure it does not lead to a drug problem that can ruin a life.

Alcohol Addiction - Behavioural or Chemical?


Understanding The Difference Between Behavioral and Chemical Addictions
Again I'll use simple terms to describe the differences. Very roughly it is estimated that it can take 7 or 8 years to reach alcoholism, that is a full blown chemical addiction. But what happens in the years preceding that? In my case the Alcoholism Stages were something like this:
  • First alcoholic drink at the age of 13. A half-pint can of Watneys Pale Ale.
  • First drunkenness at 16 at a wedding. 7 small cans of beer, or 3.1/2 pints
  • Got married at 20. My wife was very homesick initially, and I started to drink more to try to cope with it.
  • First child, a daughter, at 21.
  • Second child a son at 25, and by this time drinking spirits regularly
  • Pressure of work. An excuse for heavier drinking, and started getting objections to it from my wife and parents which I ignored.
  • Aged 28-29. Stopped drinking for 12 months.
  • Restarted drinking and back on it full blown within 2 weeks. Becomes a way of life.
  • 29-39 Alcoholism
  • 39-52 Dry
My estimate, or reckoning, is that my behavioral addiction turned to chemical addiction around the age of 29.
This is when a drinker's use of alcohol becomes a habit, then a way of life. At this stage it is reversible because if the drinker reforms, or cuts back they are still able to take alcohol, but in moderate quantities and still be in control of it.
For example, one may go to the pub every evening to enjoy the social atmosphere with other drinkers, or may enjoy a drink with company in one's own home. Nothing wrong in that you may say, but beware when you believe that you need drink to make a social gathering work. Alcoholism Warning Signs are when it becomes a habit initially, say to have a drink at lunchtime, another when coming home from work, then one or two in the evening. It becomes part of your life, part of your routine, and you find that it becomes a way of life. At this point you may even kid yourself you need a drink in the morning to help with facing up to the day ahead, and so on. You'll find that you are making the day revolve round drinking opportunities - and opportunities there are, but by this time you beginning to get devious. Hiding the bottles or receipts, disguising the alcohol in the glass with coke. Eating strong mints and so on. As this becomes full-blown,the change comes. You won't know exactly when it happens, but you find out the results later. The behavior dependency facts can be corroborated by any honest alcoholic.
Chemical Addiction
This is the stage from which there is no return. Quite simply there is a chemical reaction that occurs in the brain, an imbalance of chemicals that is like flicking a light switch. You have now become dependent on alcohol. You are unable to stop at one drink, and your drinking spirals out of control. You have one, then another, then another. Weekends and bank holidays stretch out endlessly, punctuated with drinking/sleeping/drinking. Weekdays not so bad because you can crash out into bed, until the next morning when you've got the Physical Effects Alcoholism brings: you feel nauseous, your head pounds, you shiver and sweat... You realize how bad the drink is making you feel, the terrible Effects of Alcohol, so you make a promise not to touch it for a day or a week. As soon as that time is up, your straight back on it.
My point is this. Most observers cannot understand why you can't control it, but when this stage is reached, it is literally impossible to stop at a single drink. And I mean literally. You have to have another, and another... It's a vicious illness, and that's what it has become, and you have to have the guts to face up to it that you're caught, trapped.
Kindly, well-meaning friends and family may try to help by offering to control your drinking by keeping the bottles out of sight and pouring you a drink at an agreed time. It never works, it can't do. The drinker goes underground with his own supply of liquor and drinks surreptitiously, deceitfully. Hiding places are found which only someone with experience of alcoholism could relate to. Toilet cisterns, inside the vertical vacuum cleaner, mixed with lemonade and left on a shelf in the garage, concealed in cans of cola to name a few.
What Do Behavioral Addiction and Chemical Addiction Have In Common?
Both are slowly killing you. You'll know about it from pain around your liver and kidney areas. You start vomiting and feeling nauseous even without the drink. You get shaking hands, your body shrieks at you to stop. You can't think clearly or concentrate, and you are wracked with guilt as you realize you made a fool of yourself again in front of friends. But very importantly, both behavioral addiction and chemical addiction bring out the base human traits of deception, deceit, lying, deviousness, cunning and so on. You become a very difficult person to live with. These chemical dependency facts are confirmed by my own experience.