Did You Know...?
- The
illegal drug industry ranks in size with Mobil Oil as
our second largest business -- only Exxon is larger.
- Cocaine
is now the leading cash flow drug a 26-32 billion a year.
- The
U.S. Spends almost as much money on marijuana -- 18-26
billion a year -- as its spends on import oil. Marijuana
is California's largest cash crop.
- The
drug paraphernalia business was a 3 billion a year industry
in 1979.
- This
year, among American high school seniors, one in 11 is
a daily user of marijuana.
- Today's
cultivated marijuana has an average potency of 4% THC
-- the major psychoactive ingredient -- as compared to
the marijuana of the 60's which had an average potency
of .25% THC. Today's marijuana is 10 to 15 times stronger
than that of the 60's.
|
|
|
More Useful
Statistics
- THC remains
in the fatty tissues of body cells, especially in the brain and
the reproductive organs. Even a week after marijuana joint is
smoked, 30-50% of the THC is still in the body in active form.
It takes 3 to 6 weeks to eliminate all THC from the body. More
frequent use means that the user is never drug-free, in fact,
there is a gradual accumulation of the drug in the fatty tissues
of the body.
- There are
over 7,000 published scientific and medical studies documenting
the damage that marijuana does to the various systems of the body.
Not one study give marijuana a clean bill of health.
- Marijuana
is a complex material containing 421 chemicals, 60 of which are
found only in marijuana.
- Five typical
marijuana cigarettes have the same cancer-causing capability as
112 tobacco cigarettes. Marijuana tar has more carcinogens than
tobacco tar, and the smoke is inhaled more deeply, further aggravating
the lungs and the respiratory system.
- Reaction
time for the motor skills, such as driving, is reduced by 41%
after smoking one joint and by 63% after smoking 2 joints.
- Marijuana
use reduces or alters the fundamental cellular defense against
disease. White blood cell count is reduced 41% from normal levels
with regular use of the drug.
- THC has been
found to interfere with the transmission of brain messages; EEG's
of regular users exhibit abnormal brain wave patterns.
DRUGS
AND ALCOHOL IN THE WORKPLACE
- 10% of all
workers have an alcohol problem
- 6% of all
workers have a drug problem
- 5,000 work
related fatalities yearly are due to drugs and alcohol
- 1 million
work related serious injuries are due to drugs and alcohol yearly
- Cost to industries
due to alcohol abuse is $77 billion per year
- Cost to industries
due to drug abuse is $27 billion per year
- Lost productivity
due to drugs and alcohol is $44 billion per year
- Alcohol and
Drug Abusers:
- are late
3 times more than other employees
- are 2
1/2 times more likely to leave work early, take time oft,
be absent
- use 3
times more sick days
- have
4 times as many on the job accidents
- use 8
times as many hospital days
- Assisting
an employee who has a drug probem is more cost effective than
hiring a new employee. The firing/hiring process is expensive
and there is no guarantee that the new employee will not suffer
a similar problem.
- 60% of all
employees can be successfully rehabilitated if they seek treatment.
This reduces the absentee rate from 8% down to 3%.
|
