By Nan D., Pharmacist
Beware!
A pharmacist-in-recovery is not automatically an addiction pharmacist, but in early recovery most think they are! Counselors unaccustomed to recovering professionals often believe them. When I meet a recovering pharmacist who has fallen victim to this instant-expert delusion, I suggest that much of what he learned was drug-affected, and asked him to refocus his knowledge of pharmacy through his newly found recovery perspective.
Sponsorship
As with any addict, each recovering pharmacist needs sponsors, preferably including one who is not a pharmacist! They need to become immunized, or perhaps re-immunized, to the drug-taking mentality, so theirrecovery roots should be in an ordinary 12 step program, not in some exclusive “professional” group. If you were drugging during pharmacy school, you probably didn’t hear the warnings. I have heard of a priest who asked an atheist to become his sponsor because he needed help with his sobriety, not his religion. He says another priest might have helped him remain stuck in the arrogance of his profession, knowing too much and yet knowing too little. Surely the same is true for pharmacists!
from DON’T RISK YOUR RECOVERY— Prescription Drugs Can Sabotage Your Sobriety page 194 By Nan D., Pharmacist