Alcohol and other Drugs worker.

[Naycha]

Is it acceptable for a smoker/grower to become an alcohol and other drugs worder?

 

Is it acceptable for an alcohol drinker/ brewer to become an alcohol and other drugs worker?

 

 

Double standards?

I bet most people wouldn't mind an alcohol and other drugs worker having a couple of drinks after work as long as they are not abusing it. Similarly, as long as you aren't abusing pot it should be OK to work in this field, as long as you never ever use it before or during work. Most of these organisations would work under a harm minimisation model.

 

Interesting thought freddie. Makes me wonder what people think about alcohol and other drugs workers who use Cannabis medicinally. Should they also abstain from medicinal use of Cannabis before and/or during work? This may result in them not performing to the best of their ability. Although one option is abstaining from work, I don't see that as in the best interest of the worker or their clients in some cases.

 

Also makes me wonder how people feel about alcohol and other drugs workers turning up to work under the influence of prescription opiates, benzodiazapines, amphetamines, etc.

 

Naycha

[Ford Fairlane]

It should be a requirement of the job IMO... It's pretty hard to help people if you have no idea what they have been going through. Also pretty hard to accept help from someone who is naive to your own plight.

[bufo marinus]

Hey Ozzy, as you may recall discussing this over a few bongs around home before, I got busted late 80's, Noosa Heads, with over 100 plants, the cops counted 98.... The magistrate read between the lines and told me I was off to score the best drugs available; in jail, if he saw me again and ordered me to see a court appointed pschyatrist, who also ended up being my probation officer..... man was she hot! ... but getting back to the main point here.... she also in the course of our talks told me there was nothing wrong with me, that she used to take speed and that I and a few other guys from Sunshine Beach stuck in the court ordered program should actively try and change the cannabis law..... 20 years on I did exactly that.

Her honesty from her own life experience gave us all a healthy respect for her(even though we all wanted to bone her) because we knew she wasn't talking shit.

In my opinion only people who have used drugs should counsel others as they understand who actually needs help/support and who doesn't, and in the end ceasing drug or alcohol use mostly comes down to the person trying to quit as to whether they want to stop badly enough.

Good on you for posting such a touchy subject for debate

[CBD-Tom]

I don't see why she could not work as an addiction- counselor. Who says that a dentist needs clean white teeth?

As long as she does not encourage her clients to use cannabis as their little helper for whatever ailment, its fine.

Who cares if a counselor or shrink is a smoker or has a drink or two at times? So why should one care about dope?

Basically there is no obvious reason for treating stoners different from smokers - as long as dope does not affect her performance.

Too much dope might interfere with her memory and attention span. And there is nothing worse than working with a counselor who is not listening or constantly forgetting who you are. She should test herself regularly and honestly for her mental capacities. There is decent computer software for identifying problems with memory and attention. After all, she has a lot of responsibility in this job.

 

By the way, drug use in the medical profession is higher than in others, mainly because of the stress and huge workload.

Psychiatrists and anesthesiologists top all others - you wonder why: opportunity makes thieves!

On average 30% of psychiatrists are drugged out with Xanax when presenting papers at conferences, not to mention the widespread

use of Amphetamines and Modafinil.

 

Apart from that, all I can say is that I wish her good luck in her job choice. I was working in medical ethics for some time and can say that one of

the most devastating things experienced by patients are judgy docs and counselors. I know stories of docs who sent away Benzo-addicts and the patients died because of that. (Withdrawal from Benzos and Alcohol is the only withdrawal which may be fatal).

She will clearly not have a judgy attitude and will probably understand the needs of her clients better than many others!

But I can imagine that it may be hard to not get involved too much in the cases. It may sound cold to say that, but too much compassion can be seriously dangerous for counselor and client - but she will already have learned that.