Introduction: Employment and substance misuse

This special issue of Substance Use & Misuse contains nine articles based on presentations given at the Employment and Drug Abuse conference hosted by the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research in April 2005. The research studies presented in this volume examine drug user characteristics related to employment, issues in measuring employment and substance misuse, and how intervening with substance misusers can improve their employment and employment- related skills. These studies were conducted in a broad range of populations including treatment and out-of-treatment samples, substance misusers receiving public assistance, and drug-involved criminal justice populations. This collection of papers adds to understanding the role that employment may play in substance use and treatment outcomes.