The Perils of a Drug-Free Policy for Employees of an Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program

Abstract

This paper reviews the perils of establishing a drug-free policy for counseling staff. Five major perils are identified, not the least of which is the peril of locating a staff willing to be alcohol and drug-free as a condition of employment. Other perils include justifying a drug-free policy (which entails the hazard of being deemed oppressive and just no fun at all); the cover-up; nit-picking and sophistry; and a most parlous peril, the peril of rectitude.

Drug-free counselors serve as exemplars: models of coping effectively without drugs; models of assertiveness in refusing alcohol or drugs; in short, models of well-being, able to employ in their own lives the skills and techniques of effective living they impart to clients.

The authors argue that a drug-free staff policy does not involve moral issues only, rather that establishing, maintaining and reinforcing the notion of alcohol and drug-free staff may be necessary for credible survival—making this an eminently practical policy stance.