OBJECTIVES: To examine whether perceived access to illicit drugs by occupation is consistent with acutual drug use METHODS: We used data from a 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. A total of 55245 Americans aged 12 and older participated in the study. Of those 55245 study participants, 29915 subjects who are currently employed were selected for this present study. Descriptive analyese (ANOVA and chi-square test) and regression modeling were performed to detect the difference between illict drug use and occupation. RESULTS: The majority of the sample was white (70%) and half of the sample was male (56%). About 44% of the sample was between the ages of 18 and 25. Of the 5 illicit drugs, marijuana was found to be easiest to access, followed by cocaine, crack, LSD, and heroin. Protective service workers reported having the easiest access to all five substances, followed by sales occupations. Compared to other occupations, workers in entertainment, sports, media, and communications reported having relatively easy access to marijuana and LSD. Protective service workers were the best predictor of easy access to all five illict drugs. CONCLUSION: Inconsistency was found that protective service workers had an easy access to drugs but their actual usage of illicit drugs was very low. Other policy implications relating to access to drugs by occupations were addressed in the study.