How To Identify A Colleague On Cocaine

Cocaine has long been a problem in the workplace, especially in certain environments. Office workers have long been associated with it, particularly in high-stress environments, while the hospitality industry has also been blighted by substance abuse.

Rehabilitation treatment centres around the country have noticed more and more people walking through their doors for help with not just cocaine, but many other substances too, and often the root of the problem is work-related stress.

But it’s not a sustainable way of coping, for both the person and the business and if someone is taking drugs on the job, then it’s important to recognise that and get them the help they need.

So, how can you spot a colleague who is taking cocaine?

Regular toilet breaks

While we’re not suggesting you go around accusing everyone who goes to the toilet as a drug taker, you may start to see suspicious behaviour with people going regularly, taking a while and come back twitching or playing with their nose.

Hyperactivity

One of the big side effects of cocaine is being hyperactive and you’ll often find when under the influence of cocaine someone will be bouncing off the walls and in the workplace acting rather unprofessionally.

Within that you may also see muscle spasms and tics or involuntary movements, again another sign that someone is under the influence of a substance. If it doesn’t occur normally that is.

You’ll also see shifts in their concentration as a result of this too and someone just behaving a little more skittishly.

Nose bleeds and flu-like symptoms

For people that snort cocaine they are doing some serious damage to their nose and it can often cause nosebleeds as well as a lot of sniffing, similar to like you would with a cold or flu.

This is certainly something to take not of and is one of the biggest tell tale signs that a colleague may be taking cocaine.

So, what do you do if you find someone is under the influence of cocaine in the workplace? Well, it’s a difficult one. The right thing to do is notify your employers, but you may also want to confront your colleague and understand why they are doing it and whether they have a problem, as it may be that they need support not disciplinary action.

Of course, in environments where their behaviour and drug taking could harm others, you will certainly need to escalate it to ensure nobody gets hurt.