I love comeback stories, and there are few as good as drug-addicted jailbird Robert Downey Jr.’s story.

The actor is now at the top of his game, and the huge opening of “The Avengers,” in which Downey stars as Iron Man, is only going to propel his career further.

I took my nine year old son to see the movie yesterday and we both agreed Iron Man was the best thing about the flick.

That’s why I was so excited to read the latest issue of Esquire with Downey on the cover, and I was even more excited when I read some of his advice about work and careers, which espoused the benefits of having crappy jobs. (more…)

Some workers have a breaking point; and some a weakness.

The number of American workers holding more than one job climbed yet again last month to 7.1 million from 6.8 million in February of 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With so many good-paying jobs not being replaced, some workers are finding they need more than one job to make ends meet — or at least keep up their standard of living, said Ellen Ernst Kossek, a human resource professor at Michigan State University’s School of Labor & Industrial Relations.

One devastating result of grinding too many stones may be the rising rate of drug use — including amphetamines, which are stimulates, and cocaine. (more…)

It’s a disturbing trend. A growing number of U.S. workers are using amphetamines, and one of the reasons could be tough economic times.

Quest Diagnostic, the drug-testing company, reported a 57 percent spike in workers across the country testing positive for amphetamines in the last five years, and they reported “alarmingly” high rates of positives for methamphetamines in nine states, including Hawaii, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and Kansas.

“In 2010 alone, thousands of U.S. workers tested positive for this highly addictive substance that can affect behavior and judgment, and quickly change the course of a life,” said Dr. Barry Sample, Director of Science and Technology for Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions.

This isn’t some little sample of employees. The company bases its data on more than 4.5 million urine specimens collected from the general U.S. workforce from January-December 2010.

Dr. Steven Shoptaw, Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Family Medicine, and a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded clinical researcher focused on medications and behavioral therapies for methamphetamine dependence, speculated that the economy may be contributing to the problem. (more…)