Statistics regarding drug and alcohol abuse are staggering. “While

Statistics regarding drug and alcohol abuse are staggering.

“While the most tragic consequences of chemical dependency are personal ones, suffered by the abuser and those closest to him, employers are also feeling the financial impact of the chemical dependency epidemic,” according to Michael Donahue of Primavera Treatment Center outside Culpeper.

With more than six million substance abusers in the U.S., Mr. Donahue said,studies by the National Council on Alcoholism indicate that:

• Chemically dependent employees are absent and/or late twice as often as their co-workers.

• The dependent worker will incur 300 percent higher medical costs . . . driving up their employers’ and their co-workers insurance premiums.

• An estimated 14 percent of the employees in any given company abuse drugs and alcohol regularly. The resulting 30 percent drop in productivity costs from $40 to $100 billion per year.

• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the typical cocaine abuser has more than 14 years of education, is well paid (with 37 percent earning more than $25,000 annually), and at least 50 percent of them are involved in illegal activities to support their drug habit.

• Part of the difficulty most employers are encountering is because of the innocuousness of today’s drug usage, It’s so common, yet — especially in the workplace — so subtle. Many people who abuse drugs take drastic steps to conceal their usage in the workplace. Although they may let their family life fall apart, they keep themselves together enough to get to work, either for their own self-esteem or for the money, by the time symptoms show up on the job, the disease itself is usually far advanced. Most supervisors are not even aware that a problem exists, or they are not willing to rock the boat by calling attention to it.