Substance abuse soared last year among restaurant and hotel employees, with the proportion of workers failing drug tests jumping 12.9% to an incidence rate of nearly 8%, according to the Quest Diagnostics testing service.
Marijuana use increased particularly sharply, with 17.3% more hospitality workers testing positive for THC, the lab network noted. About 9.5% of the employees tested for weed use were found to be indulging, the highest rate across all industries. The next highest incidence rate, found in the retailing business, was 8.2%
The hospitality business also had the highest incidence of general drug use, with a 7.9% rate. Retailing was again second, with a rate of 7%.
Quest did not speculate on the reasons for the increases in drug-test failures within the restaurant and hotel workforces. But a study released last month by the Society for the Study of Addiction found that daily cannabis consumption in the U.S. has surpassed the per-day intake of alcohol for the first time. It concluded that THC intake is rising as a result of more states permitting the use of marijuana for recreational and medical purposes. Twenty-four states now allow adults to purchase THC-laced products for a high having nothing to do with medical conditions.
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