US govt survey spots the sectors with heavy drinkers, drug users

Washington

DRUG abuse - including and especially alcohol abuse - costs the US economy billions of dollars in lost productivity each year. New government data released this month can now tell us exactly which industries' employees drink the most, which do the most drugs, and where employees are most likely not just to use drugs, but abuse them.

Mining is tough work and dangerous, so it may not be surprising that miners are the hardest drinkers in the federal survey - nothing like spending the day deep underground surrounded by tonnes of rock to make you crave a cold one when you get home. Eighteen per cent of miners are "heavy drinkers", defined here as "drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion (that is, at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on five or more days in the past 30 days". They are followed by construction workers at 17 per cent, and hotel and restaurant workers at 12 per cent.