Via ConvergEx's Nick Colas,
Drug testing is commonplace in American business. Every year, millions of employees and prospective hires submit to either random testing or required pre-employment screening. Passing is a prerequisite of employment for new hires and can lead to dismissal in the case of an existing employee. Whether you want a job as a truck driver in the Bakken or an investment banker in New York, chances are very good that you will have to submit to, and pass, a test for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, heroin/opiates and PCP. Put another way, the specimen cup is the gateway to employment.
One of the less-discussed features of the Great Recession relates to the same topic: more Americans became regular users of illegal drugs during this period than at any point in the last decade. A few salient datapoints from the last published National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2011):
Some 22.5 million Americans reported using illicit drugs in the prior month. That is 8.7% of the over-12 year old domestic population, with the 2010 survey showing a similar 8.9% usage rate. Prior to the 2007 Financial Crisis and subsequent recession, that number was 8.0%.
The entire pickup in illegal drug usage over the 2007 – 2011 timeframe is from an increase in reported use of marijuana. Seven percent of the over-12 population reported using the drug in the prior 30 days in 2011, up from 5.8% in 2007. Seizure data from the FBI, tracked by the U.S. Census, supports the survey results. In 2010 (most recently available data) U.S. law enforcement seized 4.5 million pounds of marijuana from smugglers, dealers and users, up from 3.0 million pounds in 2006.
Among the unemployed, reported illicit drug usage was 17.2% of that population, versus 8.0% for their counterparts who are employed full-time. It is worth noting that the survey protocol is in-person, with participants answering questions by filling out a computerized questionnaire. They receive $30 for completing the survey. Given the sensitive nature of questions over illegal drug use, it is entirely possible that the survey understates such use – perhaps materially –despite assurances of anonymity and confidentiality.
1 comment:
Test each and every member of congress. Regularly. You'll be stunned at the results.
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