Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace
Drugs have been a part of the American story since the rise of modern industrial capitalism in America. If drugs have existed since the beginning, so have drug problems, and so have attempts to solve these drug problems.
Drug and alcohol abuse is not a new problem within individuals at work. The increase of Media recognition across the world in general has raised and highlighted the problem as a vital issue facing the average worker today. The use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace as an issue has found it is not only a workplace problem, but a way to reach out and offer help to the employee and their families. The awareness of drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace allows the addiction to be recognized, programs to implement for preventative measures, and possibly solutions to be found to the problems arising out of substance abuse at the workplace.
The history of drugs in the American workplace has been much more doubtful. While sentiments similar to those motivating the drug-free workplace movement can be traced back to the early years of the American republic, so can instances of employers condoning or even encouraging certain drug use as means of increasing worker productivity. (Team, 2008)
During the rise of modern industrial capitalism in America, manufactured goods in small workshops were organized. The master craftsman worked and usually lived alongside his team of apprentices, with the workshop functioning as a kind of all-male family. It was common for the master and apprentices to take a break from work to share a drink right on the shop floor. It surely slowed down production, but it made the work more tolerable while building the social bond. By 1820’s the Industrial Revolution Movement was taking its place in America and the small workshops gave way to modern capitalist factories. The master craftsmen became bosses, while the apprentices became wage laborers. The new factories organized to maximize...