Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism on the Job

The scariest part about alcohol abuse and alcoholism on the job is that it is probably more prevalent than you might think. Each day we place our lives and our livelihoods in the care of others when we trust that they will not drive, operate machinery or otherwise endanger us by drinking while on the job. Every year there are scores of deaths and billions of dollars lost as a result of this insidious problem, and in a great many cases the victims were not the ones who were drinking. Education, prevention measures and effective treatment options should be a critical part of health care offered by the workplace in order to mitigate and prevent these serious risks.

The BILYEU group estimates that as much as 47% of industrial injuries and 40% of industrial fatalities can be attributed to alcohol use. This is a frightening statistic considering the high number of accidents and injuries that occur each year, many of which involve heavy and dangerous equipment like compactors, shredders, grinders and heavy-duty vehicles. Because these numbers are so high it's easy to see that prevention of workplace alcohol consumption is everyone's problem - not just the offender.

What most people don't consider is the significant economic fallout caused by alcohol abuse in the workplace. This occurs as a result of lost time on the job, poor performance, the cost of injuries and accidents, the cost of increased insurance premiums, lost productivity, legal fees, and many other economic consequences. According to the US Department of Labor, "In 1990, problems resulting from the use of alcohol and other drugs cost American businesses an estimated $81.6 billion in lost productivity due to premature death (37 billion) and illness (44 billion); 86% of these combined costs were attributed to drinking." Chances are that these figures are minimal as a result of under-reporting and omissions.

Fortunately, many employers and government agencies have recognized the value of programs for education, prevention and treatment of alcohol related issues. This includes the 1988 Drug Free Workplace Act, which sought to enforce and regulate the administration of drug and alcohol prevention programs in federal workplaces. However, the program and others like it were soon after adopted by private companies and organizations and have even been utilized by small businesses. Many people feel that the social support and networking environment of the workplace can be a valuable place to put education and prevention measures in place because there is significant motivation when peers are connected and affected by each other's decisions and actions on a daily basis. Additionally, it's more likely that in this type of environment a problem worker would be identified and dealt with accordingly.

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American Illicit Drug Supply Routes

American illicit drug supply routes are so well established that practically any person can obtain most types of drugs in nearly every area of the country. This is true of both urban and rural areas, with drug availability and distribution lines being networked easily between cities and towns nationwide. In fact, in some cases rural areas are even more connected than urban areas. Consider the state of Maine's problem with heroin and illegal prescription drugs (considered the worst in the country), and Vermont's problem with high-potency marijuana. Whatever the drug and whatever the location, drug supply routes in the US are strong and should be examined in order to understand how significant the demand for illicit drugs really is.

There are three primary ways that drugs are brought into and distributed around the US: by plane, by ship and by ground transport. There are around 2 million known routes according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, although these routes constantly change in response to pressure from law enforcement. Overall the total number of routes - both known and unknown - may number as many as ten million. The vast majority of these routes are over land, with a small percentage by sea or air.

Mexico is the largest supplier of cocaine not only into the United States, but also into Europe. This means that Mexico is well connected to Caribbean countries and other jumping-off points from which to stage operations. Some of the Mexican cocaine is routed to the US via flights to Florida and Texas, while some is carried aboard many different types of craft. However, it is the large and difficult to protect Mexican/American border that is the source of most overland drug routes of Mexican cocaine. These routes extend into California and Texas, where the shipments are broken down and then shipped to the interiors of the country.

Canadian high potency marijuana has turned a large portion of the northern US border into a drug smuggling corridor. These routes extend from the northern states and down into Chicago and New York City. Small towns and cities along the way are points of further distribution, with so called "high grade" marijuana being available in even very remote and rural areas.

Despite extensive efforts against the drug trade, Florida is a primary source of trafficking routes. Heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines are smuggled into the state, taking advantage of thousands of miles of coastline. The drugs are distributed in cities like Miami and Orlando, then carried further north into Georgia and the Carolinas.

The interior of the country is riddled with drug supply routes, but the 2006 National Drug Threat Assessment found that there are only 3 major corridors that are strictly interior. This includes drugs smuggled into the Gulf of Mexico and distributed to the southern states, drugs originating in California and being distributed east across the northern states, and drugs originating in California and extending in a distribution line across the middle and southern states.

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