By Bill Current, President & Founder
Being Current: 25 Years in the Making—Lessons Learned About Why Drug Testing Is So Valuable
This information is provided for educational purposes only. Reader retains full responsibility for the use of the information contained herein.
I founded the Current Consulting Group (CCG) in 1998, 24 years ago. To celebrate our upcoming 25th anniversary, each month we will be featuring special articles, webinars, and discounts on CCG services. Check our website and LinkedIn page for updates and offerings.
Each of our monthly newsletters will feature a special article entitled “Being Current: 25 Years in the Making” which will highlight some of the most important things I’ve learned about drug testing and about being in business since I started the #1 consulting firm in the industry two-and-a-half decades ago.
Lesson #3: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
In 1992, I wrote my second of 10 books entitled “Does Drug Testing Work?” It was a collection of many of the major reports, studies and surveys that existed up to that point about substance abuse, its impact on the workplace, and drug testing. In those days, statistics were freely thrown around to make whatever point a speaker wanted to make. There was a number to claim drug testing was good and another number to claim drug testing was bad, and sometimes it was the same number.
My book became the premier source of statistics with fully cited sources to prove that substance abuse in American workplaces was not good and getting worse and that drug testing, though still in its infancy, was working to help identify people who needed help and to deter people from using drugs and being at work under their influence.
As the old saying goes: “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” The lesson I learned while conducting research for the book, a lesson that has stayed with me during Current Consulting Group’s nearly 25 years, is that the key indicators, unchanged and unembellished, don’t lie—drug abuse in the workplace is bad and drug testing is good. It’s that simple. Workplace substance abuse continues to be a serious problem, especially with the widespread legalization of marijuana, and drug testing has proven to be the most effective way to address that problem. There are numerous studies and surveys that reach this conclusion, drug testing deters people from using drugs, whether it’s in the workplace or part of a treatment program.
For most of the 1980s and part of the 1990s, the question employers were likely to ask was: “Should my company conduct drug testing?” Then for about 20 years the key question shifted from “should we test” to “how should we test” because the benefits of drug testing were no longer in doubt. However, more recently, employers seem to be asking once again if drug testing is worth the trouble and, in particular, should they test for marijuana. And once again the answer to the question lies in the numbers. If an employer is sincerely concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the company’s employees, about staying out of court over lawsuits brought about by the property damage and harm drug-impaired employees cause to others, and protecting the company’s bottom line, then a real drug testing program that produces helpful results should not be in doubt.
The numbers do not lie, drug testing works!
© 2010-2022 The Current Consulting Group, LLC – No portion of this article may be reproduced, retransmitted, posted on a website, or used in any manner without the written consent of the Current Consulting Group, LLC. When permission is granted to reproduce this article in any way, full attribution to the author and copyright holder is required.
