FAYETTEVILLE -- Businesses sometimes have difficulty finding enough job applicants in Arkansas who can pass drug-screening tests, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday while speaking at the annual conference of Arkansas Economic Developers.
The problem "underscores the challenge that we face" dealing with illegal drugs in Arkansas, Hutchinson told the crowd of about 120 at a luncheon at The Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville.
Hutchinson said he would like to challenge industry to help address the problem with long-term engagement, treatment and efforts to reduce the demand for drugs.
"We need that kind of industry engagement," said Hutchinson. "I would come up with the money myself from the state perspective to partner if we have a commitment at the local level."
Hutchinson used Blytheville as an example, since 50 area residents were arrested earlier this month on drug and gun charges. But he said it's a statewide issue.
"As economic developers, please keep an eye on that side of the equation," Hutchinson told the crowd. "We have got to make more progress in that arena in the state of Arkansas."
Hutchinson is a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Arkansas Economic Developers is an association of professional and volunteer economic developers organized in 1976.
During an interview after his speech, Hutchinson said one company executive told him 40 percent of their applicants in Arkansas failed the drug tests. He didn't identify the company.
According to Quest Diagnostics of Madison, N.J., the percentage of American workers who tested positive for illicit drugs last year was 4.7 percent. That's based on 6.6 million tests.
Randy Zook, president/CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, said the drug-test failure rate is sometimes as high as 60 percent for some jobs in the state. He said it varies by geography, industry and time of the year.
"It depends on where you are, the level of the job and the nature of the job," said Zook, who attended the luncheon where the governor spoke on Monday. "You can see anywhere from 20 to 60 percent fail the drug test. The stunning part is the ones who know they're going to flunk just don't show up."
Arkansas' failure rate is similar to those of other Southern states, Zook said.
"We're going to go to work on this," he said. "It's a great challenge, to get businesses more involved."
Hutchinson said arrests of drug dealers is a step in the right direction but more needs to be done.
"It's not just about enforcing the law," Hutchinson said after his speech. "It's about following up with community engagement and education. It's about making sure we have drug treatment courts and treatment alternatives. So it's all of the above. It's something that ebbs and flows but you have to consciously engage it or it can really overwhelm you."
Hutchinson said it's not an issue that economic developers like to talk about.
Metro on 08/25/2015