The drug is any substance that alters the body's functioning. In this case, any discussion concerning the use of the drug in the workplace must be specific to the type of drug. There are drug prescriptions from medical institutions that are for treatment. However, there are other drugs and substances such as alcohol and cocaine, which are for leisure or other purposes other than the prescriptions. For this discussion, the focus is on drugs and substances such as alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, and other and other hallucinogens. The debate on drug abuse at the workplace is yet to be over. Those in opposition claim that it is a person's autonomy to decide to take a drug. However, the opponents look at the cost and the safety of the people around the abusers. However, drug abuse in organizations, mostly for medical staff, should not be a legal issue.
Drug use in the workplace as a controversy
The use of drugs in the workplace brings controversies because of issues such as whether it is ethical for employers to test drug use in the workplace. Presently, most organizations are relying on different technologies for testing employees before they assume their duties on numerous illicit drugs and substances. The question of whether it is ethical for such tests remains to be one of the most significant controversies in the workplace and the human resource management field. Further, the cost of drug use to the organizations also raises a lot of concerns about whether an organization needs to tolerate the drug users in their premises ( Waehrer, Miller, Hendrie&Galvin, 2016). In most cases, employers incur a lot of costs due to lateness, illnesses, and underproduction when an employee is under the influence of drugs. Workplace discrimination is also a concern, mostly when an employer rejects employees based on drug test results. Workplace discrimination is one of the areas where the government has a stern stand, and employers must adhere to the regulations. Whether it is legally acceptable for an employer to terminate an employment contract for a person abusing drugs or using drugs in an organization is still also a controversy. In this sense, drug use in the organization has become a complex issue.
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Drug use at the workplace is wrong
The question of drug use in the workplace, mostly in hospitals for a physician, should be understood in terms of safety. How safe it is for a surgeon to operate a patient under the influence of alcohol? Such are substantive questions that can validate the relational for banning drug use in the workplace. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) , drug use has lasting effects on memory and has the potential of impairing a person's decision making abilities. Other than that, the same body also states that drug use has a lasting impact on the physical skills ( de Fatima Fernandes& da Silva Gherardi-Donato, 2017). The implication is that when a physician prescribes a drug under the influence of drugs, they may misjudge the drugs. They may also have instability with their decision-making capabilities leading to a wrong prescription. The result is hazardous to the patient, the family, and the community.
People should also understand drug use in the organization should concerning culture in the organization. Culture defines the way people within the organization behaves. According to Behavior theory, influential behaviors are transferable from one person to next. It means that depending on the environment, those people that define a person's environment, such as friends, can influence their behaviors ( Jarvis et al., 2019). It also implies that when an employee uses a drug while in the organizations, there is a high chance that they can also influence other employees to do the same. Such a culture thus will encroach in the organizations, and the result would be a disaster to the company.
Understanding drug use in an organization from the viewpoint of the cost to the organizations can also be helpful towards understanding the rationale for banning drug use while at work. Those who use drugs in the workplace are costly to an organization. First, these people tend to be sick most of the time. The sicknesses can stem from addiction or overuse of drugs. Further, such people tend to be lazy, according to Lin, Lee, Lee &Chen, 2018), and thus their production rate usually is far below a normal employee. Also, the rate of absenteeism among those who abuse drugs while at the workplace is high in comparison to those who have ethics in the workplace. Besides, these people tend to be aggressive, and in most cases, they are difficult to correct or involve in a team or group work. Further, the cost of injury is high among those who come to work under the influence of drugs than those who come to work while sober. They also risk injuring other people, including patients, in case they are physicians.
In conclusion, drug use in the workplace, mostly for the physicians, should not be a legal issue. Those who use the drug are potential hazards to others in the workplace. Further, these individuals are also costly to the organization as they tend to be less productive than those who are sober. Further, these individuals are also bad apples in a basket and thus can influence their friends or induce a culture of drug abuse in the organization that may hamper production.
References
de Fatima Fernandes, M. N., & da Silva Gherardi-Donato, E. C. (2017). Is It Workplace Stress a Trigger for Alcohol and Drug Abuse?. Open Journal of Nursing , 7 (03), 435.
Jarvis, B. P., Houten, A. F., DeFulio, A., Koffarnus, M. N., Leoutsakos, J. M. S., Umbricht, A., ... & Silverman, K. (2019). The effects of extended-release injectable naltrexone and incentives for opiate abstinence in heroin-dependent adults in a model therapeutic workplace: A randomized trial. Drug and alcohol dependence , 197 , 220-227.
Lin, S. Y., Lee, H. H., Lee, J. F., & Chen, B. H. (2018). Urine specimen validity test for drug abuse testing in the workplace and court settings. Journal of food and drug analysis , 26 (1), 380-384.
Waehrer, G. M., Miller, T. R., Hendrie, D., & Galvin, D. M. (2016). Employee assistance programs, drug testing, and workplace injury. Journal of safety research , 57 , 53-60.
