Ministry of Health statistics found that one quarter of young males use cannabis for recreational purposes.

About a quarter of young men use cannabis for recreational purposes, but it will never be acceptable at work, the Employers and Manufacturers Association boss says.



Kim Campbell said he expected cannabis use among young professionals to be a lot higher than Ministry of Health statistics suggest.



The ministry's data found that about one quarter of males aged between 15 and 34 used cannabis for recreational purposes last year.



In every age bracket, men's recreational use of cannabis was higher.

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Women aged between 15 and 24 were the most common cannabis users for their gender.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF Employers and Manufacturers Association chief executive Kim Campbell says employers have zero tolerance for cannabis use at work.

Usage dropped significantly as adults aged, below 10 per cent for both men and women over 55 years old, the statistics showed.

A WorkSafe spokesperson said workers of any age or gender could be involved in taking drugs at work.

Doing so was a risk while working, but the level of risk varied depending on the type of work a person was doing, WorkSafe said.

STUFF Campbell says cocaine use is a larger problem among white collar workers in international cities.

"The impacts of drugs, like cannabis in the workplace, can include accidents, injuries, fatalities, impaired performance and productivity, poor work relations, lateness, absenteeism and decreased performance."

Campbell said cannabis use was socially acceptable here, but even if it was legalised, employers would have zero tolerance for its use at work because of impairment on the job.

Employers viewed its use outside of work "very much the same as alcohol", he said.

Campbell said class A drug use outside of work was a much larger problem, especially in cities such as London and New York.

However, it would be naive to assume white collar workers here were not using drugs such as cocaine for recreational purposes, he said.

"You would be very naive to presume that it is not [being used in New Zealand cities]. You have got to presume there is a problem because when they [the New Zealand Police] catch shipments of it, they are huge."

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