^ Great post Halif, I agree - and kudos for sharing that with us Shroompharma. Thank you. Love the clever screen name too.
I can only begin to imagine the impact of going from a rewarding professional career (that I'm sure you worked extremely hard to attain) to losing it and finding yourself in this complicated bind must have had on your life.
I'm no stranger to nightmarish scenarios playing out in my day to day life, but I'm guessing you took a bit of a tumble and getting back on track has been pretty damn hard.
A complete role reversal - from dispensing medicine to being dependent on someone doing the same for you?
I have a couple of thoughts, but I'm not sure how helpful I could be.
Ajay's tips are pretty fucking spot on regarding legal advice and the sorts of organisations he's referring to - i'm sure there is a wealth of information to be had from people familiar with these kinds of clauses in contracts/registration applications - seems like the best way to approach this; seek advise from people who - above all - won't judge you...and go from there.
Actually - maybe that's
bluelight? Well - good choice
If not legal aid or other drug advocacy group affiliated lawyer/clued up paralegal folk - perhaps if you can afford (and are prepared) to pay for legal advice from a lawyer that specialises in this field (I'm not sure if it would be relating to medical law, contract law, industrial law?) these advocacy groups - or people in their legal teams - would presumably be able to point you in the right direction, refer you to somebody with experience in providing similar legal support.
I wouldn't be surprised if situations like this happen all the time; I'm sure that there are a number of professional organisations and industries that seek to preclude drug dependent individuals from joining their ranks.
And we all know that addiction doesn't discriminate according to profession, or other minor details. Actually - yours is more like a potential occupational hazard for people with a taste for altered states of consciousness.
...and that's kind of what makes this whole question somewhat complicated.
At this point I'm sure it is clear I have the credentials to give you an opinion that's worth sweet fuck all - but my BA in English Literature (ha ha ha) leads me to think that your best bet in this situation (apart from the really good point above about getting some really glowing professional and personal references from any impressive sounding people you might know well enough to trust they'll be as complimentary in their appraisal as you'd want) is to volunteer as much personal - potentially compromising private information about yourself as you
have to no more...no less - (
within reason, of course)
I think lying on the registration application (though very tempting) would be very unwise and could get you in a bit of hot water....but it depends on how this question is worded, exactly - how how one could reasonably interpret it. I different interpretation - and a less forthcoming response -
could be a matter of how you read the question, rather than a deliberate attempt to distort truth.
It's all a bit "close to home" for comfort i'm sure. Jesus.
Id also like to add that if I were you I would be
really careful from here on in about posting
any potentially identity-revealing information relating to yourself - be it age, location, preferred brand of socks, taste in music, automobiles, the schools you' e attended - anything even slightly, personal really.
Call me paranoid, but I'd probably go back and edit my first post (mentioning your home state etc).
This may sound crazy or overly cautious, but a certain degree of anonymity is sought by most people on forums devoted to uh, stuff of questionable legality - and what you've disclosed above, in terms of reapplying for your registration as a Pharmacist - along with your (commendably eco-friendly) way of finding a new home for neglected drugs - would be almost as damning as inclosing a massive sack of empty s8 pill bottles and blister packs (each scripted to a different name; none of them yours) with your application for re-registration.
That it could cast an unfavourable shadow on your application, to say the least - should it come to the attention of anyone assessing it. Extremely unlikely (and maybe obvious) as that is, I thought it worth mentioning.
Not that many members here would think any less of you Hopefully you'll stick around this online community and and tell us all about yourself if - nay -
when you get back into your career. A Pharmacist would be an amazing asset to this sub-forum (in terms of discussion and knowledge, not anything that would contravene the law or the BLUA) and you'd be in good company in Bluelight overall.
But - let me not digress
too much.... The tale of how you got into this predicament is irrelevant to the issue at hand - the sticky question about anything that could potentially impede your practice - I am assuming you are quoting the form verbatim - or the key points at least.
Now...We have established that lying about being on maintenance
could have a range of bad repercussions, but you feel no conflict in saying "no, I don't abuse drugs" - in response to a question with two rather vague terms as part of a related, and encompassing supposition. It is the vague - to an anti-prohibition, hair-splitting language pedant such as myself, this is where I would be seeking out as many (similarly enlightened - but
qualified to give advice on the legal - or at least technical - finer points of signing what sounds like a pretty formal document).
First the supposition; pretty standard on a lot of job applications at the moment - "any condition that could impede your practice" - sometimes you see other examples listed as "conditions that could impede your [work] - such as injuries, claims for workers' compensation - the sorts of things that employers may ask as a matter of thoroughness (on the surface) - but I always feel it is veiling a slightly more personal line of questioning, perhaps not strictly pertaining to your wellbeing - but (in the case of compo claims, for instance) my impression is that they are digging for any indication that you will either be a trouble-maker, someone that will be a liability or likely to cost them a lot of money.
That way (in the sort of jobs that have asked this sort of question) if you flare up an existing - or old - injury, for example, the employer could potentially use your failure to report it in the application to deny any compensation claims, if it emerges that you did, in fact have an injury several years earlier.
...and if you
do answer with full honesty - in an application for a specific job (which is just my frame of reference; I'm afraid) - then anything you
do say feels like you are voluntarily putting a black mark against your name in the field of applicants.
The context with this seems quite different though.
Do you need to renew your professional registration annually?
I take it that the "condition" in question here (condition generally taken to mean
illness (physical or mental...?) or perhaps a set of circumstances that may render someone wholly inappropriate for a Pharmacist's professional registration.
I refer to this as a supposition because in the few words you quoted from this section of the form there is a fairly transparent causal link made between "
drug abuse" (which seems to be almost universally understood to refer to "illegal drugs") - and "of dependence".
Now...this is the tricky bit. Having such broadly described drug use - one person's "drug abuse" may be taking a couple more codeine or whatever) pills than prescribed to feel a little more than the analgesic effect. Other people may think of "taking LSD" (at any time) to mean "drug abuse".
But "drug dependence" - well, without brewing up a cup of coffee each morning, I will get a pounding headache, maybe some nausea; I might even vomit. But does being "drug dependent" in this sense
"impede my work?" I would say that it absolutely does not.
So the question
I would be asking people well informed in these matters - is the question
really asking if you have
"any condition that could impede your practice"
^^ as the main question, with -
including drug abuse or dependence
as examples? If this is the case, your "drug dependence" could be omitted - as you don't feel it would adversely affect your professional conduct.
Or should the question be read in terms of the examples - and the outcome - being one in the same?
To use a really basic example; "do you have any past injuries that could impede your work - including tendon damage or back problem?
I don't know how open these things are to interpretation in a professional registration to practice - whether any sort of inquiries would be made - say, for example - is there a drug addict register for people on opioid maintenance programs?
Would it be a breach of confidentiality, or could you possibly be discovered this way - and if so; would it be fair to argue that rather than being "drug dependent", you are being treated for a previous drug habit in the accepted medical fashion?
In this instance, I think you would be far
less likely to be impulsive when given opportunistic access to drugs - as you were previously, as cravings would be reduced (I imagine) - not to mention buprenorphine's blocking effect.
I was considering asking if you would detox prior to submitting this (in order to avoid that question) but doing so - surrounded, potentially by easily accessible triggers (or
relapses handed to you for safe disposal...!) could be a setback you really don't need in your life.
A final consideration; perhaps i am
way off the mark and the question asking something other than these interpretations - something more along the lines of "are you a drug taker?" (in general) - with the implication maybe being that people who take drugs shouldn't be - or won't be (if they admit to it...) considered appropriate to be registered Pharmacists?
Hmmm....I may have just confused myself.
Good luck, regardless of how you approach this. Here's a song especial for you,
Mr Pharmacist !
(fuck I didn't plan on writing a dissertation...sorry about the enormity of this post).
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Doesanyone have any advice or opinions? has anyone been in a similarsituation - in Australia, or elsewhere?[/FONT]
