Data contained in the latest annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Survey), covering the COVID-19 pandemic year 2020, show that monthly use of illicit drugs (including marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law) among full-time employed (FTE) U.S. workers continued its decade-long pattern of growth last year. In fact, increasing use of illicit drugs among FTEs has risen steadily – and without exception – over the entire past decade (2011-2020).
With respect to alcohol abuse, although so-called binge drinking declined for the second year in a row, “heavy alcohol use” showed an increase for the first time in five years.
The drug and alcohol use survey, which has been conducted annually by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for the past fifty years, was modified in 2020 due to the pandemic. It began in January 2020 as usual with monthly in-person interviews, but was suspended in mid-March. The Survey then resumed with virtual interviews beginning in October. The net result was 36,300 interviews conducted in 2020, just over half the normal number of interviews usually taken.
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