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Methamphetamine Prevention and Treatment
Methamphetamine Prevention
One of the best deterrents for preventing
methamphetamine in the workplace is a comprehensive drug-free workplace
program. A comprehensive drug-free workplace program includes the
following components: a policy; training for supervisors; training for
employees; assistance or support to employees who have problems with
alcohol and other drugs; and drug testing.
A written drug-free workplace
policy is the foundation of a drug-free workplace program. Every
organization’s policy should be unique and tailored to meet its specific
needs; however, all effective policies have a few aspects in common,
including why the policy is being implemented; a clear description of
prohibited behaviors; and an explanation of the consequences for
violating the policy.
After developing a drug-free workplace policy, an
organization should train those individuals closest to its
workforce—supervisors. Training
should ensure that supervisors understand the drug-free workplace
policy; ways to recognize and deal with employees who have performance
problems that may be related to alcohol and other drugs; and how to
refer employees to available assistance.
A drug and alcohol
education program provides employees with the information they need
to fully understand, cooperate with and benefit from their company’s
drug-free workplace program. Effective employee education programs
provide company-specific information, such as the details of the
drug-free workplace policy, as well as generalized information about the
nature of alcohol and drug addiction; its impact on work performance,
health and personal life; and types of help available for individuals
with related problems.
Providing
assistance or support to employees who have problems with alcohol
and other drugs can come in many forms. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
are generally the most effective vehicle for addressing poor workplace
performance that may stem from an employee’s personal problems,
including the abuse of alcohol or other drugs. EAPs are an excellent
benefit to employees and their families and clearly demonstrate
employers’ respect for their staff. They also offer an alternative to
dismissal and minimize an employer’s legal vulnerability by
demonstrating efforts to support employees. In addition to counseling
and referrals, many EAPs offer other related services, such as
supervisor training and employee education. At a minimum, businesses
should maintain a resource file from which employees can access
information about community-based resources, treatment programs and
helplines.
Some employers decide to
drug test employees for a variety of reasons, such as deterring and
detecting drug use, as well as providing concrete evidence for
intervention, referral to treatment and/or disciplinary action. Before
deciding to conduct testing, employers should consider a few factors,
including who will be tested; when will tests be conducted; which drugs
will be tested for; and how tests will be conducted. Different
testing modes are available, and many states have laws that dictate
which may and may not be used.
A comprehensive drug-free workplace program helps
in the prevention of substance abuse. It also helps in getting people
to treatment.
Methamphetamine Treatment
It is possible to recover from methamphetamine
addiction; however, it is a long and difficult road. Because
methamphetamine affects dopamine transporters, it takes time for the
brain to recover. As a result, there is a high rate of relapse with
methamphetamine due to the recovering addict’s inability to feel
pleasure or have a sense of hope. Further, unlike other addictions,
there is no known “anti-methamphetamine” medication available. Initial
studies from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) indicate that
cognitive behavioral therapy is helpful in methamphetamine addiction
treatment. More recent studies provide some sense of “hope” in
methamphetamine addiction.
Community-based treatment for methamphetamine
abusers, especially women, and the Matrix model, a method of outpatient
cognitive-behavioral therapy, appear to aid in long-term abstinence.
Treatment comprised of group therapy, including drug-related and
alcohol-related sessions and sessions on dealing with mental health
symptoms and addressing psychosocial problems, including family,
parenting and employment, for a minimum of three months, provided
improvement of almost all areas.
Due to its high rate of recidivism, a new
technology using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can
predict “with high accuracy” whether a person will relapse after
treatment for methamphetamine abuse. The fMRI revealed in study
participants that those who showed greater activity in selected brain
regions during a decision-making task as opposed to a simple response
task were likely to remain abstinent. Those who showed far less
activity during the decision-making task than during the simple response
task were more likely to relapse to methamphetamine abuse. The possible
treatment implications include using this technology to determine which
patients would be more likely to relapse and then assign them to higher
levels of care (NIDA Notes, Vol. 20, N5/Brain).
Methamphetamine Treatment and the Workplace
Through a comprehensive drug-free workplace
program, it is possible to identify an employee with a methamphetamine
problem and get that person assistance needed to enter into treatment.
As an employer, it is helpful to ask whether there is adequate health
insurance coverage for employees who may be addicted to
methamphetamine.
Because the road to recovery with meth is long,
follow-up is particularly important. Follow-up in the workplace occurs
after a person has completed formal substance abuse treatment, usually
through a treatment or rehabilitation facility. This procedure in the
workplace is in place to assist the employee with returning to work,
maintaining sobriety and complying with any return-to-work agreement.
An organization working with an employee dealing with methamphetamine
addiction needs procedures that consider the nature of the specific drug
and its recovery process. It usually includes assistance from the
treatment/rehab center and an EAP or other workplace representative. In
addition, workplace drug testing combined with therapeutic tests, such
as fMRI, could be useful in providing assurances to employers that those
treated for meth addiction will not relapse on the job and also improve
the odds of a positive recovery.
"What Can I Do?" Training:
A training designed to help employees learn when and how to help a co-worker
(or family member or friend) who may have a substance abuse problem.
Co-workers can often be a powerful influence on those who are abusing
drugs and/or alcohol. By knowing what to do and what not to do,
co-workers can make the workplace safer and help their co-workers get
help.
Back to Special Issues: Methamphetamine in the Workplace
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