Roughly $81 billion in lost productivity is an awful lot of money to dole out. Yet that’s what alcohol and drug abuse costs American businesses each year, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates.
According to DOL, about three out of four (77 percent) current illicit drug users in the U.S. are employed. This averages out to be roughly seven percent of the workforce. Another alarming stat: Nearly eight percent of full-time workers ages 18-49 use illegal drugs, says the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.