{"id":18929,"date":"2025-04-13T16:39:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T15:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=18929"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:15:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:15:50","slug":"employees-who-use-and-abuse-marijuana-miss-more-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/04\/employees-who-use-and-abuse-marijuana-miss-more-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Employees who use and abuse marijuana miss more work."},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Lindsey Leake\u00a0 <\/span>August 27, 2024 at 4:30 PM EDT<\/span><\/h1>\n
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The modern marijuana consumer may be shedding the lazy stoner stereotype, yet new research shows employees who use and abuse the drug are more likely to miss work.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While the modern marijuana consumer may be shedding that lazy stoner stereotype, new research shows that employees who use and abuse the drug are more likely to miss work.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The findings were published Monday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine<\/em>.<\/div>\n
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For the study, researchers at the\u00a0UC San Diego School of Medicine\u00a0and the\u00a0New York University Grossman School of Medicine\u00a0analyzed data from the\u00a02021\u201322 National Survey on Drug Use and Health\u00a0on 46,500 adults employed full-time in the U.S. Recent and\u00a0frequent cannabis use, as well as cannabis use disorder (CUD), they found, was associated with greater workplace absenteeism.<\/p>\n

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Work absences included days missed due to illness or injury in addition to skipped days when employees \u201cjust didn\u2019t want to be there.\u201d Respondents were a majority or plurality white (62%), male (57%), ages 35 to 49 (35%), married (52%), had at least a college degree (42%), and had an annual household income exceeding $75,000 (55%). About 16% of employees had reported using cannabis within the last month, with about 7% of whom meeting CUD criteria (mild: 4%; moderate: 2%; severe: 1%).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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People who said they had never used cannabis missed an average 0.95 days of work in the past 30 days due to illness\/injury and skipped 0.28 days. Cannabis users, by comparison, recorded the following absences:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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  • Past-month use:<\/strong>\u00a01.47 illness\/injury, 0.63 skipped<\/li>\n
  • Mild CUD:<\/strong>\u00a01.74 illness\/injury, 0.62 skipped<\/li>\n
  • Moderate CUD:<\/strong>\u00a01.69 illness\/injury, 0.98 skipped<\/li>\n
  • Severe CUD:<\/strong>\u00a02.02 illness\/injury, 1.83 skipped<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The results also showed that people who used cannabis most frequently skipped the most work. For instance, those who consumed it once or twice per month skipped 0.48 days, while those who consumed it 20 to 30 days per month skipped 0.7 days. People who used cannabis three to five days per month had the highest prevalence of missed days due to illness\/injury (1.68). Cannabis use longer than a month ago had no bearing on employee absence.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThese findings highlight the need for increased monitoring, screening measures, and targeted interventions related to cannabis use and use disorder among employed adults,\u201d researchers wrote. \u201cMoreover, these results emphasize the need for enhanced workplace prevention policies and programs aimed at\u00a0addressing and managing problematic cannabis use.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Researchers said that while their latest work supports much of the existing literature on cannabis use and workplace absenteeism, it also contrasts with other studies. One previous study, for example, showed a\u00a0decline in sickness-related absences\u00a0in the wake of medical marijuana legislation, while another found\u00a0no link between the two.<\/p>\n

    One limitation of the new study, the authors note, is that it relied on participants\u2019 self-reported answers. In addition, the data don\u2019t reflect whether cannabis was used for medicinal or recreational purposes, whether it was consumed during work hours, or address other factors that may have affected a person\u2019s cannabis use patterns.<\/p>\n

    What are the signs of cannabis use disorder?<\/h2>\n

    That marijuana isn\u2019t addictive is a myth. People with CUD are unable to stop using cannabis even when it causes health and social problems, according to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cannabis consumers have about\u00a0a 10% likelihood of developing CUD, a disorder\u00a0impacting nearly a third of all users, according to previous research estimates. At higher risk are\u00a0people who start using cannabis as adolescents\u00a0and who use the drug more frequently.<\/p>\n

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    The CDC lists these behaviors as signs of CUD:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    • Continuing to use cannabis despite physical or psychological problems<\/li>\n
    • Continuing to use cannabis despite social or relationship problems<\/li>\n
    • Craving cannabis<\/li>\n
    • Giving up important activities with friends and family in favor of using cannabis<\/li>\n
    • Needing to use more cannabis to get the same high<\/li>\n
    • Spending a lot of time using cannabis<\/li>\n
    • Trying but failing to quit using cannabis<\/li>\n
    • Using cannabis even though it causes problems at home, school, or work<\/li>\n
    • Using cannabis in high-risk situations, such as while driving a car<\/li>\n
    • Using more cannabis than intended<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      In addition to interfering with everyday life,\u00a0CUD has been linked to unemployment, cognitive impairment, and lower education attainment. People with CUD often have\u00a0additional mental health problems, including other substance abuse disorders. In this study, for example, 14% of respondents reported having\u00a0alcohol use disorder\u00a0within the past year.<\/p>\n

      Source: https:\/\/fortune.com\/well\/article\/marijuana-abuse-cannabis-use-disorder-workplace-absenteeism-sick-days\/<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      by Lindsey Leake\u00a0 August 27, 2024 at 4:30 PM EDT The modern marijuana consumer may be shedding the lazy stoner stereotype, yet new research shows employees who use and abuse the drug are more likely to miss work. While the modern marijuana consumer may be shedding that lazy stoner stereotype, new research shows that employees […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,129,68,82,19,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cannabis-marijuana","category-culture","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-economic","category-usa","category-workplace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}