Reagan Urges Businesses to Battle Drugs

President Reagan asserted today that businesses should join the federal government’s battle against drugs and seek out workers who abuse illegal substances.

Reagan, in a speech to an anti-drug seminar at Duke University, used the Pentagon’s drug-testing program as an example for the civilian work force.

“I’ve heard critics say employers have no business looking for drug abuse in the work place. But when you pin the critics down, too often they seem to be among the handful who still believe that drug abuse is a victimless crime,” Reagan said.

“The drug user is a victim. His employer is a victim. His fellow employees are victims. The family that depends on his wages are victims. And America, which is only as strong and as competitive as all of us together, America is the victim,” Reagan said.

Many Victims

“It would be hard to find any crime with more victims than drug abuse,” Reagan said.

But he made no mention of the legal controversies that have erupted since he signed an executive order in 1986 ordering the testing of federal workers in “sensitive” positions. Critics of his drug-testing program have voiced concerns over such issues as invasion of privacy.

Reagan spoke to a cheering, standing-room-only crowd in Cameron indoor stadium and was greeted by an audience waving posters that ranged from “Contra thugs peddle drugs” to “Reagan USA is a drug-free USA.”

The President’s armored limousine passed by several hundred protesters gathered outside the stadium chanting “USA-CIA-Out of Nicaragua.”

Abusers Grateful

Reagan praised those companies that have taken steps to seek out the drug abuser, saying that such persons were grateful for the help they received once they were discovered.

“When it’s all over, and drug users look back on the wreckage of their careers and their lives . . . they wish someone had discovered their habit earlier and given them help,” Reagan said.

“You are showing how compassion and campaigns for a drug-free work place go hand-in-hand.”

A study last year by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce showed that in 1983, only that 3% of Fortune 500 companies were administering drug testing of some kind. By 1986, that had skyrocketed to one-third of those companies.

Pentagon Praised

Reagan also praised the Pentagon’s efforts at ending drug abuse.

“We got a head start with the military. And since the drug program started there, illegal drug use has gone down by two-thirds,” Reagan said.

Reagan attended a seminar hosted by the university and Gov. James G. Martin before an audience of students, local business people, executives, educators, physicians and government officials.