Jacques Normand - Böcker

Drug use in the workplace, its effect on performance and safety, and the role of workplace drug testing has received much attention in the popular press. But what do we actually know about this troubling issue? With an extensive and readable overview of the literature, the committee presents what we do know by examining the major issues: * The extent and severity of drug use on and off the job. * The strengths and weaknesses of methods for detecting drug use through standard drug tests. * The effect of drug use on behavior, including the results of both laboratory and field studies that have examined work-related behavior and worker productivity. * The effectiveness of interventions to deal with drug use, such as employee assistance programs, health promotion programs, and treatment programs for substance abuse. This volume will be of practical interest to human resource and employee assistance program managers, policymakers, and investigators.

This volume addresses the interface of two major national problems: the epidemic of HIV-AIDS and the widespread use of illegal injection drugs. Should communities have the option of giving drug users sterile needles or bleach for cleaning needs in order to reduce the spread of HIV? Does needle distribution worsen the drug problem, as opponents of such programs argue? Do they reduce the spread of other serious diseases, such as hepatitis? Do they result in more used needles being carelessly discarded in the community? The panel takes a critical look at the available data on needle exchange and bleach distribution programs, reaches conclusions about their efficacy, and offers concrete recommendations for public policy to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. The book includes current knowledge about the epidemiologies of HIV/AIDS and injection drug use; characteristics of needle exchange and bleach distribution programs and views on those programs from diverse community groups; and a discussion of laws designed to control possession of needles, their impact on needle sharing among injection drug users, and their implications for needle exchange programs.