Hospitality workers most likely to misuse prescription drugs, Curtin University study finds

A West Australian study has found hospitality workers are more likely to abuse prescription medication and over-the-counter drugs than employees in other industries.

Every three years the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare conducts a national survey to measure the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and drug use in the community.

Researchers from Curtin University collated results from the last decade, focusing on data from around 70,000 working Australians aged between 20 and 65.

Professor Mark Harris, from the Curtin University's department of economics and property, said 3.7 per cent of working age Australians responded said they had used a pharmaceutical drug for non-medical purposes.

"The key finding was that workers in hospitality were more likely to misuse pharmaceutical drugs," he said.

"We also found blue collar workers, so your labourers and construction workers et cetera, were much more likely to misuse these drugs than white collar workers."

Professor Harris said he believes this survey is the first of its kind in Australia.

"Given the adverse affects of this drug abuse and the cost to productivity, we were surprised there has been little academic research done in this area," he said.

"All of this data is self-reported though, so if anything we'd actually suspect those rates would be underestimated because quite a few people who had done it would not want to admit it."

Adelaide-based addiction medicine specialist Dr Phillip Crowley said he agreed the true figure could be much higher.

"I think it's really under-reported, under-estimated and under-treated," he said.

"Prescription and over-the-counter drug use is really replacing illicit drugs in many ways.

"I've seen it in a whole range of ages, socioeconomic groups and professions.

"It may be that [hospitality workers] are more likely to admit to it because they don't think they're at risk of a regulatory response."

The study also found jobs with higher responsibility and authority were inversely associated with misusing pharmaceutical drugs.

Workplace testing for prescription drugs difficult

The report suggests workplace testing, which is already done in the mining industry, could help to address the problem.

But Richard Clancy from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said employers must walk a fine line.

"It's a new frontier because if you cross the boundary between legitimate use of prescription medicines into the abuse that flows from taking excessive amounts, that's very difficult for employers to grapple with," he said.

"As a community we're still working out how to respond.

"Where you have a situation with illicit drugs and alcohol you can introduce a drug-testing regime, but it's difficult when it's medicines available under prescriptions or over the counter.

"There is an obligation on the part of the employer to provide a safe workplace, an obligation from employees not to place themselves or colleagues in a situation of risk, and then there are also privacy considerations coming into play."

The report also says more education is needed on the risks of prescription drugs.

Earlier this month an interim report from an advisory committee to the Therapeutic Goods Administration recommended making codeine-based products, like painkillers, prescription only from June next year.

Dr Crowley said if that happens, the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs will not be so hidden.

"There's going to be a large number of people that have been hidden, basically opiate addicted, suddenly seeking treatment," he said.

"I suspect that number will exhaust the availability of services because they are already unavailable to people with addiction."

Source: ABC News, Lucy Martin, 19^th October 2015
Originally published as: Hospitality workers most likely to misuse prescription drugs, Curtin University study finds