In a new study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, construction workers are the most likely out of all work forces to use cocaine and misuse opioids for recreational purposes.
The study also found that construction workers are the second most likely to use marijuana.
Analyzed from data from 2005-2014 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, researchers used a dataset that included 293,492 US adults, including 16,610 construction, mining, and extraction workers and compared these participants to workers in 13 other fields.
Participants then answered questions regarding drug policies at their workplace as well as their personal use of cocaine and marijuana within the past month.
In addition, they answered questions about their own non medical use of prescription opioids.
It was revealed that construction workers reported the highest frequency of misusing opioids and cocaine use. They also reported the second highest frequency of marijuana use after those in the service industry.
The following findings were also found to be true according to the study:
The researchers saw that construction workers who had unstable jobs or missed work were more likely to use drugs.
Those who were unemployed in the week prior and those who work for three or more employers were more likely to use marijuana or misuse prescription opioids.
Those who missed 1-2 days in the last month due to not wanting to work were more likely to use marijuana, cocaine, and opioids.
Those who missed 3-5 days of work in the past month due to injury or illness were more than twice as likely to miscue prescription opioids.
Researchers reveal that the higher rates make sense as this line of work is labor-intensive and jam-packed with injuries and both opioids and marijuana can help to relieve pain.