New Study on Workers’ Drinking, Illicit Drug Use Says Whites Do More of Both than Blacks

Source: By: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Black full-time workers in America lag behind their white counterparts when it comes to drinking liquor and using illicit drugs, according to a study released Monday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The report, entitled "Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs," showed that 5.4 percent of blacks reported past month heavy alcohol use, compared with 10.1 percent of the whites surveyed. The report, based on information collected from 2002 to 2004, also showed that 8 percent of blacks reported past month use of illicit drugs, compared with 8.8 percent of whites surveyed


Read more: http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/workerdrugs717

I work construction and nearly everyone I know in the business at least drinks. I'd say 90% of them smoke weed and 80% do coke. It's rare to find anyone who doesn't. In fact the only ones who don't party at all are AA people who couldn't handle anymore.

These are all excellent mechanics at their various trades.

Heavy equipment? High ladders and girders? If you build it wrong it falls down and goes boom?

Where is this construction company located? And what have you built lately?

I didn't mean to imply that there was heavy partying going on during work. Heh. Although it has been known, it is far, far from the norm.

Mentioned in the article are an example of institutionalized racism, (not to rule out overt racism) at work. A disgusting legacy of racism coupled with a ridiculous "drug war".

What does this have to do with race? Are you picking on white people? Black people?

prone to both alcohol & drug abuse, when the reality is that there is a higher percentage of both in whites.

Two big differences are that 1) as mentioned in the article, there is a higher proportion of blacks in the penal system, meaning that where a white guy gets busted for pot, he goes back to work, a black guy gets busted, he goes to jail; and 2) because the black community is less stable financially, blacks have less distance between them and the bottom if they are caught up in drug/alcohol abuse while whites can tread water a lot longer - white society allows blacks fewer 2nd chances.

what it is for young caucasians of the same age--largely for alleged drug crimes--while African-Americans actually are LESS likely to use drugs.

And the recent finding simply replicates what SAMHSA surveys have found for many years.

But not from this one. This one only counts those employed full time. Not those employed part time, not those unemployed for any reason.

Thoughts?

that have been stated by the media for decades. In order to keep a particular group in stereotypical fashion to be the leader of social ills, blacks have always been targeted and reported repeatedly, along with Hispanics. It always puzzled me how white america, the largest population in the U.S., was always the lowest in numbers when it came to these and other statistics. Sound like a little protection from your own to hide the truth. Look at the 1960's and the hippie drug culture. Was that an anomaly or a drug culture that has expanded until today? Better still, the caustic drug trade distribution import business into this country co-created by whites to paralyze the minority communities for profit? Black america did not create this evil nor did they profit from it. I am not talking about the drug dealer on the corner, but the main line corporate distributor.

I guess all those college binge drinking, homeless wino's, beer gut guzzling, suburbia hidden (liquor hiding in cabinets, under the sink etc.) AAA participating, career therapy patients (I can go on and on) alcoholics and drug users don't count. When the drug methamphetamine was identified as a problem in the white community, there was a national wide outcry with the emphasis on "why it this happening?" Gimme me a break! I guess when white america has a alcohol or drug problem, it's a isolated problem caused by other life issues as opposed to minorities. This problem in white america has always been larger than advertised and in addition, white america created these two atmospheres that exist today. Blacks and other minorities knew this all along, it just not hidden anymore.

considering the alcohol and drug use is self-reported.
I don't know, but isn't it possible some people could deny they use drugs, especially considering it's illegal?

Less likelihood of denying illicit activities than with the face-to-face interview method used by the National Household Drug Survey, which came up with lower figures.

... but this is the first time I've felt compelled enough to create a user name and reply to a comment.

I notice a large range of people from several backgrounds and from a variety of occupations, and the same inevitable truth holds: Most people do drugs in some capacity. I work in a University setting, so I assumed it was for that reason that a majority of my acquaintances were using some substance or the other. So my confusion over these types of reports continues to grow. Why is there such a discrepancy between the perceived number of drug-users (>50% of full-time workers) and the reported number of drug-users (<10% of workers)?

use. In my opinion, such a study would be more reliable if the people were actually tested, rather then self-reported their drug use.

the study only focuses on full time workers and not those working part time jobs who who aren't classified as full time workers even if they work 40+ hours a week.

http://ncadistore.samhsa.gov/catalog/productDetails.aspx?ProductID=17699


On edit:

The really sensitive data was entered into a computer, *but* the interviewer was present and would, presumably, have been able to assign a name and face to the responses, so trust would have been an important thing to control for. Much of the data was collected during an interview.

because they know they won't end up in jail! On the other hand, most criminals are convinced that they will never be caught, so I've always been dubious that punishment deters criminals.