For the study, casual drug users were defined as those who used illegal drugs no more than once a week over the past year.

While the research, led by Dr. Michael T. French of the University of Miami, Florida, found that casual drug use doesn't affect employment status, it determined that chronic drug use reduces a person's chances of holding a job.

The study, which was based on data from the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, recommended that employer-based treatment programs focus on "problem" drug users rather than all users.

French said the findings could help employers design more effective employee-assistance and drug-testing programs.

But Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, voiced concern over the study's distinction between casual and chronic drug use in the workplace.

"I don't think any parent would want their child's school bus driver to use drugs, whether it was casually or chronically," Lemaitre said. "In terms of workplace accidents, it does not matter if the drug user is hard core or casual. The damage has already been done. People who use drugs miss work, have lower productivity, and have accidents. Fourteen billion dollars are lost annually in the United States because of drug use on the job."

The report is published in the October issue of the Southern Economic Journal.

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