Drug-Free Workplace Evaluation
Andrew Rhea, Rebecca Chiavetta, Jami Krebs, and Lisa Meier
PSY 425
November 12, 2012
Dr. Elizabeth Riegner

Drug-Free Workplace Evaluation
Imagine an employee is returning from a lunch break, and a coworker is collaborating with this individual in an erratic manner. The coworker’s actions make this employee feel unsafe, and cause him or her to become unproductive. The coworker has an accident, and the company is shutdown to investigate the accident. The previous scenario has often occurred throughout the United States, causing companies to lose money from possible lawsuits, and decreased productivity in the workplace.
Illicit, and prescription drug use is prevalent in the United States, and causes absenteeism, accidents, downtime, turnover, theft, morale issues, and decreased productivity in the workplace (University of Phoenix, 2012). This proves that companies benefit from instituting drug-free workplace policies with mandatory drug testing within the workplace. Creating a drug-free work environment is a cost-effective necessity in the workplace, and establishing a drug-free work environment will have positive effects on a company.
Prevalence of illicit and prescription drug users in the United States workforce
Prescription drugs are "dispensed to the public only with an order given by a properly authorized person" (The Free Dictionary, 2012, p. 1). In 1999, American's spent nearly $104.7 billion on prescription drugs, which soon increased to $234 billion in 2008 (Lee, 2012). The significant increase in prescription drug use in the United States has made it difficult for employers to balance safety policies, and procedures in the workplace, without violating an employee's legal rights regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act. The most commonly used prescription drugs in the United Stated in an individual's