Drug Abuse Among Unsuspecting Professionals

Addiction does not discriminate and our drug and alcohol programs here at Harmony reflect this fact well – with programs for young adults, men and women in all stages of life.

The need for more addiction rehabs to focus on professionals in their programs has been highlighted in the news recently with professionals under fire for drug abuse. Last week, a high school IT teacher in England was sentenced to over 3 years in jail and permanently banned from teaching after being caught with more than 100 grams of cocaine in a narcotics lab in his home.

His sentencing came after an investigation found that he was involved in high-level supply of cocaine leading to his arrest in 2012. At first the teacher denied being a distributor and said he was holding drugs as a favor but then later revealed that financial distress lead to his self-compromising actions. Steve Powell,  the chairman of the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) said “The wellbeing of pupils must be protected and the reputation of the profession maintained” and permanently ban the teacher from teaching in the future.

In a similar story, a New York City music teacher was arrested last week for selling instruments to support her heroin addiction. The 30 year old elementary school music teacher began stealing the instruments last June and selling them at pawn shops.

Police caught wind of this last October and have been investigating her since. When she was pulled over last week a police officer found a tuba she said she was using for work – a story that wasn’t backed by her school district. In addition to the tuba, police found 12 of the instruments stolen from the school at local pawn shops. The teacher and her boyfriend, who helped her steal and pawn the instruments, are being charged with possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.

Although both cases pertain to teachers, other unsuspecting professionals battle addiction that place them in compromising situations that inflict severe legal and professional ramifications upon them. From airline pilots to anesthesiologists, professionals are losing their licenses and reputations because of addiction. Fortunately, some professions have system in place that allow staff to seek addiction treatment and return to their professions while others, like the teacher in England, lose their professions all together.

Addiction treatment programs are available to give all walks of life a second chance at life. This is because people are not themselves when in active addiction – they do things they would have never dreamt of doing before their addictions took them to a place of desperation. The case of the teachers is one example among many that exist. That is why Harmony Foundation has established drug rehab programs that help clients out of desperation and back to their true selves – the selves they knew before addiction took hold.