I imagine you’ve heard about the shock felt in some quarters when the current Secretary of Health and Human Services, also known as RFK Jr., openly acknowledged his history of drug addiction— admitting that he’d gone so far as to snort cocaine off a toilet seat.
Some of the more outraged responses insisted that he immediately resign his position, based on an outright admission of illegal activity, specifically drug abuse.
As if stories like his aren’t routine among the histories of many who now enjoy long-term recovery from severe substance use disorders.
One response on a discussion board: “Get over it, people. You’ve locked yourself in the bathroom at a party, you need a hit now. Like you care how it gets up your nose? Being a dope fiend is not supposed to be pretty.”
No, it isn’t. But once firmly in the past, it should no longer qualify as evidence of incompetence in the present. Better to treat it as part of the long road towards recovery from the misery of addiction — perhaps the change point known as “being sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Stories told at 12 step meetings generally follow a pattern. First, something about how bad things were. Then something else about how the addict finally found the strength to overcome, with plenty of help. And last, the hope they have found since getting clean and sober.
One longtime AA sponsor explained to me that the stories told at meetings aren’t just about one person’s struggle. More than anything else, he argued, it’s a message to those who still suffer.
That message, according to the sponsor: “If I can do it, as sick as I was, then so can you.”
There are plenty of reasons to critique RFK Jr. based on his performance in the very important job with which he has been entrusted.. I’ll be first in line with my complaints, should I get a chance.
But just as his colorful past did not qualify him for his current job, neither does it disqualify him.
