Spirits and Demons at Work: Alcohol and Other Drugs on the Job.

Abstract

The National Council on Alcoholism estimates that alcoholism costs employers some $10 billion a year in lost productivity. The figure can be taken with a grain of salt (or snifter of brandy) but nobody, least of all employers, questions the size of the problem. Drunkenness on the job contributes just a small part. Accidents, long lunch hours, absenteeism, irritability, sloppy work\p=m-\allfrequently have a common origin: fondness for the sauce. Perhaps employers have always known this, but only recently have any tried to correct the situation. Sci-