Drug Users Seeking Jobs Turning to Small Firms

WASHINGTON — America’s small businesses may be becoming the employer of last resort for the nation’s drug users.

The evidence so far is mostly anecdotal, but it appears to be growing every day, Labor Department and congressional officials say.

The reason is simple: Larger firms are much more likely to screen job applicants routinely for drug use. By contrast, smaller companies don’t have the money--or the time--to put anti-drug programs into effect.

Analysts say drug users essentially are weeded out of the work force in large firms either because of negative testing results or because of their refusal to take a drug test at all. When they’re turned away from larger firms, they go to smaller ones.

Roland Droitsch, deputy assistant secretary of labor for policy, warns that with more than half of the work force employed by smaller businesses, “the word is spreading that the larger firms do drug testing, and if you have a problem, not to go to them.”

Susan Berger, director of small business projects for the Washington-based Corporation Against Drug Abuse, says most smaller businesses don’t have the resources to cope with drug-abuse problems--or even to lend assistance to workers who have turned to drugs.

And the federal government isn’t going whole-hog to help. Only $1.7 billion of the $11 billion that Washington appropriated for the drug war last year went for programs dealing with the workplace, and barely $2 million of that went to smaller firms.

A recent congressional report lambasted the Office of Drug Control Policy--the national drug czar’s office--and the Small Business Administration for doing little to assist small businesses that request help.

Furthermore, the efforts that the federal government does make are not sufficiently geared to the needs of small businesses, the report said.

That, in turn, has sparked congressional criticism of the current effort.

“To me, (helping small business) is the nuts-and-bolts that could really make a difference,” said Rep. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who is heading a subcommittee that oversees the program.

To be sure, Washington does provide some programs to help cope with the problem. But even these are being gradually squeezed out.

The Labor Department provides $2 million a year in grants to help businesses develop employee assistance efforts, but President Bush’s 1992 budget eliminates funding for this program.

The department also runs regional conferences in conjunction with the National Institute for Drug Abuse to provide advice on how to achieve a drug-free workplace. But Joseph Autry III, an institute director, says the presentations mostly attract companies that already have programs in place.

Autry says the institute’s first efforts in the fight against drugs were directed at all businesses. They currently are developing a comprehensive manual to teach small companies low-cost anti-drug strategies.