Problem with narcotics (i.e. weed, coke)

[PoorMD]

Have any medical students ever had this problem? Essentially I just have some friends in low places if you will and during undergrad it didn't matter if you smoked a J once in a while. The cops busted us a couple times, but we all got into medical school at a respectable college with no permanent record damage. I assume medical school is a different ballgame and we will have to kick the bad habits. Anyone here ever known of problems like this? Anyone here had similar bad habits that they were able to kick?

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[AStudent]

A friend of my ex took cocaine all through medical school. He claimed it was his "focusing agent."

 

[Blake]

A friend of my ex took cocaine all through medical school. He claimed it was his "focusing agent."

I've heard similar stories. I never believed them, but they might be true. Wow

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I've heard similar stories. I never believed them, but they might be true. Wow

They're true. Some of our best customers are "impaired health professionals".

 

[Realest]

Yeah, my dad's an anesthesiologist and during his residency he knew of a few fellow residents who were busted for using their access to narcs for personal use. My dad was really naive and this one dude used to come in while he was in the OR and tell him to take 5, and while my dad was on break he would steal morphine. It was really easy apparently because he just signed it out under some patients name; the hospital wasn't monitoring him or anything. He says it's a more serious problem than one would think - a lot of doctors have gone to rehab because of their addictions.

 

[onmyown0805]

I won't sugar coat it, I am in recovery for several addictions and it wasn't easy. It is a life long process done one day at a time.

Remember normal people don't do drugs at all because they are illegal, expensive, and dangerous. There is nothing normal or okay about doing drugs a little bit.

I didn't think of quitting until I hit an emotional & financial bottom. People's rock bottom experiences are different. Some are physical (HIV, pancreatitis). Some are legal (DUI, busted copping drugs, stealing narcs, or busted by DEA for abusing prescription privleges). Some consquences are personal (lose lover, spouse, friends). Your addiction will drain you dry until you surrender and ask for help.

I can tell by your post that you know you have a problem. Good for you to be out of denial. If you don't think you have a problem, quit cold turkey for 30 days. If you don't have a problem, quitting will be a snap. If you do have a problem, you will definitely know it.

Check out AA or NA meetings and consider going to rehab. Rehab has helped a lot of people. However, recovery is a lifelong process. And while recovery is really hard, it is really fun. There is a lot of laughter in recovery.

There are lots of recovering MDs out there and they are excellent doctors and fine human beings. You'll meet some in the rooms of AA and NA. There are also med students in recovery and don't worry nobody will rat you out. That's why they are called anonymous programs.

Please choose recovery because if you don't you will never realize your dreams. Good luck.

 

[Realest]

I won't sugar coat it, I am in recovery for several addictions and it wasn't easy. It is a life long process done one day at a time.

Remember normal people don't do drugs at all because they are illegal, expensive, and dangerous. There is nothing normal or okay about doing drugs a little bit.

I didn't think of quitting until I hit an emotional & financial bottom. People's rock bottom experiences are different. Some are physical (HIV, pancreatitis). Some are legal (DUI, busted copping drugs, stealing narcs, or busted by DEA for abusing prescription privleges). Some consquences are personal (lose lover, spouse, friends). Your addiction will drain you dry until you surrender and ask for help.

I can tell by your post that you know you have a problem. Good for you to be out of denial. If you don't think you have a problem, quit cold turkey for 30 days. If you don't have a problem, quitting will be a snap. If you do have a problem, you will definitely know it.

Check out AA or NA meetings and consider going to rehab. Rehab has helped a lot of people. However, recovery is a lifelong process. And while recovery is really hard, it is really fun. There is a lot of laughter in recovery.

There are lots of recovering MDs out there and they are excellent doctors and fine human beings. You'll meet some in the rooms of AA and NA. There are also med students in recovery and don't worry nobody will rat you out. That's why they are called anonymous programs.

Please choose recovery because if you don't you will never realize your dreams. Good luck.

Great post

 

[Giving My .02]

Never used illegal drugs. I wouldn't suggest it at all during medical school. Worked for a law firm part-time through college, and even though we didn't handle the case, one came through that the doctor killed a patient while "high" on cocaine. Don't want to get into details but he was pretty much guilty, and no there was not a multi-million dollar settlement, no more than 4 million, but still killed someone who was actually pregnant at the time. So no, I think while you can kick the habit, you don't want it to hurt your patients or your career.

 

[beanbean]

Onmyown0805: awesome post. A wish for continued sobriety to you, my friend.

 

[f_w]

I assume medical school is a different ballgame and we will have to kick the bad habits. Anyone here ever known of problems like this?

Yes, it is a different ballgame.

If you want to know about the rules of the game, do a google search with 'impaired physician' or go through the minutes of your states medical board meetings.

If you get busted for a narcotics violation, you'll have an uphill struggle for the rest of your medical career. Look forward to:
- job opportunities 'evaporating' after you submit your medical staff application.
- personal interviews with the medical board wherever you apply for a license
- restrictions to your staff priviledges, supervision of your prescribing
- a jolly good time getting your DEA number

A practicing physician who gets busted usually is given a chance to continue his/her career. If you screw up before you get started, things are different.

 

[OldMD]

I hear classmates talking about getting "high" or being more specific, like using crystal meth... god it's not worth the risk in my opinion. Kick the bad habits. Good luck in all.

OldMD

 

[f_w]

I hear classmates talking about getting "high" or being more specific, like using crystal meth...

That is truly insane. A pothead doc is one thing, but a crazed methbrain treating patients. Please, don't scare me, I will never look at our students the same.

 

[PoorMD]

the doctor killed a patient while "high" on cocaine. Don't want to get into details but he was pretty much guilty, and no there was not a multi-million dollar settlement, no more than 4 million, but still killed someone

Most people who have tried coke (much less a medical doctor) know it has a lasting effect of approximately 20 minutes. I hope this doc wasn't blowing a line in the hospital bathroom, that would be downright ridiculous. But the likelihood of him actually being on coke at the time this incident occured to me seems unlikely. I guess he failed the piss test and they hung him out to dry regardless, rightfully so.


f w, man I was busted with some weed early in undergrad. The cops didn't write me a ticket but they F***ed with me (bribes, trying to get me to rat people out) and it's hard to say what those thugs can do to my permanent record. However the statute of limitations is one year. And regardless I got into medical school.. The question now is, quitting for good so I don't ever feel tempted to return to all that self destruction.

 

[f_w]

f w, man I was busted with some weed early in undergrad. The cops didn't write me a ticket but they F***ed with me (bribes, trying to get me to rat people out) and it's hard to say what those thugs can do to my permanent record.

So, you didn't get arrested and you were never charged with a crime, is that correct ? I doubt that they would even remember you, and if the statute of limitations has expired you won't have to worry about THAT incident.


And regardless I got into medical school.. The question now is, quitting for good so I don't ever feel tempted to return to all that self destruction.

Yes, kick the habit NOW. Your past probably won't come back to bite you, but if you f)*( up now, you WILL do serious damage to your career in medicine.

 

[mustangsally65]

I'm just a pre-med, but shouldn't we know better than to take these harmful chemicals into our bodies just for recreational "fun?" We've learned about the rare circumstance when people have died doing some drugs, and we've seen the effects than can happen after just one try. Why would you put yourself at such a risk? We're taking on a lot of responsibility in the pursuit of a medical license, and we owe it to our future patients not to mess anything up. I could never respect myself if I knew I had used any kind of illegal substance in medical school. How do you expect to learn what you need to be learning when you're messed up on some drug?

Sorry for the rant, but for reapplicants like me who have done everything in their power to get in and still were rejected, it's hard to understand how someone with such a wonderful opportunity would do anything at all to jeopardize it or their future careers. Would you want your doctor to be under the influence of some narcotic while treating you? I know I wouldn't.

Kudos to the above poster in rehab. You have my eternal respect.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

smoking weed gives you straight A's.

I know.... I saw my friends do it! it was amazing how easy school work seemed to them.

 

[Giving My .02]

the doctor killed a patient while "high" on cocaine. Don't want to get into details but he was pretty much guilty, and no there was not a multi-million dollar settlement, no more than 4 million, but still killed someone

Most people who have tried coke (much less a medical doctor) know it has a lasting effect of approximately 20 minutes. I hope this doc wasn't blowing a line in the hospital bathroom, that would be downright ridiculous. But the likelihood of him actually being on coke at the time this incident occured to me seems unlikely. I guess he failed the piss test and they hung him out to dry regardless, rightfully so.


f w, man I was busted with some weed early in undergrad. The cops didn't write me a ticket but they F***ed with me (bribes, trying to get me to rat people out) and it's hard to say what those thugs can do to my permanent record. However the statute of limitations is one year. And regardless I got into medical school.. The question now is, quitting for good so I don't ever feel tempted to return to all that self destruction.

You can intellectualize it all you want, but there was evidence he was in addition to people who testified he was, and he admitted to it. When you hit low you hit low.

 

[beastmaster]

What about medical students/residents/physicians using steroids? Any interesting stories?

 

[sweetpeamd09]

Props to you!

I won't sugar coat it, I am in recovery for several addictions and it wasn't easy. It is a life long process done one day at a time.

Remember normal people don't do drugs at all because they are illegal, expensive, and dangerous. There is nothing normal or okay about doing drugs a little bit.

I didn't think of quitting until I hit an emotional & financial bottom. People's rock bottom experiences are different. Some are physical (HIV, pancreatitis). Some are legal (DUI, busted copping drugs, stealing narcs, or busted by DEA for abusing prescription privleges). Some consquences are personal (lose lover, spouse, friends). Your addiction will drain you dry until you surrender and ask for help.

I can tell by your post that you know you have a problem. Good for you to be out of denial. If you don't think you have a problem, quit cold turkey for 30 days. If you don't have a problem, quitting will be a snap. If you do have a problem, you will definitely know it.

Check out AA or NA meetings and consider going to rehab. Rehab has helped a lot of people. However, recovery is a lifelong process. And while recovery is really hard, it is really fun. There is a lot of laughter in recovery.

There are lots of recovering MDs out there and they are excellent doctors and fine human beings. You'll meet some in the rooms of AA and NA. There are also med students in recovery and don't worry nobody will rat you out. That's why they are called anonymous programs.

Please choose recovery because if you don't you will never realize your dreams. Good luck.

 

[humuhumu]

I won't sugar coat it, I am in recovery for several addictions and it wasn't easy. It is a life long process done one day at a time.

Remember normal people don't do drugs at all because they are illegal, expensive, and dangerous. There is nothing normal or okay about doing drugs a little bit.

I didn't think of quitting until I hit an emotional & financial bottom. People's rock bottom experiences are different. Some are physical (HIV, pancreatitis). Some are legal (DUI, busted copping drugs, stealing narcs, or busted by DEA for abusing prescription privleges). Some consquences are personal (lose lover, spouse, friends). Your addiction will drain you dry until you surrender and ask for help.

I can tell by your post that you know you have a problem. Good for you to be out of denial. If you don't think you have a problem, quit cold turkey for 30 days. If you don't have a problem, quitting will be a snap. If you do have a problem, you will definitely know it.

Check out AA or NA meetings and consider going to rehab. Rehab has helped a lot of people. However, recovery is a lifelong process. And while recovery is really hard, it is really fun. There is a lot of laughter in recovery.

There are lots of recovering MDs out there and they are excellent doctors and fine human beings. You'll meet some in the rooms of AA and NA. There are also med students in recovery and don't worry nobody will rat you out. That's why they are called anonymous programs.

Please choose recovery because if you don't you will never realize your dreams. Good luck.

Wow. Outstanding post! I wish to God more kids could hear these kind of messages...

 

[coxzilla97]

When my wife was in med school I was appauled by the volume and variety of drug use by her classmates. So I know that drugs are being used in medical school. How good of an idea is it? Well, in your interview to get into medical school they asked you what you liked to do for fun. I bet you didn't say I like to get high. You probably said something like "volunteer sky diving lessons for the elderly and underserved populations" in your town ( they always seem impressed with the sky divers, huh). As a community it is physician responsibility to weed out bad seeds or to police them so as to preserve our tradition, honor, and most importantly to uphold the oath we take to help and heal. So if you had to lie to get into medical school about your actions then that is a pretty good indicator that they are not acceptable. If you are addicted, fine. Now is your time to get help. No harm, no foul. In fact having been an addict you will have a depth of empathy for patients in the same position that I will never have. But if you just want to jack around for fun, dont even go to medical school because your aren't ready for it.

 

[dpg]

Have any medical students ever had this problem? Essentially I just have some friends in low places if you will and during undergrad it didn't matter if you smoked a J once in a while. The cops busted us a couple times, but we all got into medical school at a respectable college with no permanent record damage. I assume medical school is a different ballgame and we will have to kick the bad habits. Anyone here ever known of problems like this? Anyone here had similar bad habits that they were able to kick?

If you have a drug and alc. problem take it from me. It can get your arse canned so quick you won't believe. If it's causing you a problem call AA. DOn't be too cool. Or you could end up out of your proffesional school of choice with no prospect of getting back in. Not to mention that you might just die. Chances are your like me and think that that sh*& won't happen to you. But if your serious then PM me so you don't have to discuss this with non-recovering people who at best might be kind but have no dang clue what they are talking about.
DPG