Hi Harlan,
I just came into a bad situation. I'm in the military and just got into a lot of trouble. I popped up positive on a drug test. Now I will be getting out on an "other than dishonorable discharge." I don't know how to face my family or what to do now. I'm 19 and have been in (the military) for six months. Any advice?
Surfer
You didn't "come into a bad situation." You created it, then you walked right into it. You did drugs, you got busted, and now you're in trouble. Forget about facing your family; face the ugly, ugly facts. YOU'RE 19 YEARS OLD WITH A DRUG HABIT THAT GOT YOU THROWN OUT OF THE ARMY. It's a sad wake-up call. Now that you're aware of the situation, you can either turn this into a reason to fall deeper into your drug habit or turn it into the greatest gift of your life. If you want to earn your family's respect, start by working on your self-respect. Face them by telling them the truth - you have a drug problem AND you need help. And yeah, you do need help. If not for a drug addiction, then for whatever is causing you to run from life and toward drugs. As a rule, people who don't have drug problems don't get kicked out of the Army for doing drugs. You got kicked out. You need help. Get it. Then get your life together. Do this and not only will your family look at you with new respect, you'll begin to look at yourself and your life with new respect. And with that, you'll want to start living life instead of passing time while life passes you by. HC
ReplyDeleteYou can break it to your family by saying, "Hi mom, I was discharged from the Army b/c I smoked pot even though I knew I was going to be taking a mandatory drug test. I just couldn't wait a whole few days AFTER my drug test to smoke again."
ReplyDeletei think harlan was a little to hard on the boy. nowhere did the boy say that he DID infact do drugs, what they test results came back as positive as, or anything else. iwould recomend tempering judgement untill all the facts had come to light. i know for a fact that drug tests are not %100 foolproof. i took a drug test for a company and it came back positive, the next day i took another - it was negative, as was the original after they retested it.
ReplyDeletejudge not lest you be judged yourself:
mojo
Harlan has a point though. The military, after investing time and money on a soldier, does not arbitrarily kick anyone out for the first drug infraction. This kid did not admit to it, but I'm sure he had been given at least a probation period and still failed. His crappy duties were increased, forced to exercise harder than anyone else and got his down time minimized or revoked. Perhaps his adolescent rebellious tendency took over and prevented him from taking the probation seriously. His tasks were completed half-assed and insubordination grew. Most likely drugs weren't the only issue.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't have a problem with occasional drug use, as long as it remain mild and recreational. In fact, I support decriminalization of certain soft drug categories. What would bother me more is if my tax money continued to support this loser had he been allowed to further his military career.
Not really a part of the original thread, but just an add-on to the previous response. With regards to the government use of our taxes goes, it certainly costs less to rehabilitate drug users and treat it as a social problem than to try, convict and imprison users through the justice system. And of course there is the repeated right to the appeals process. Anyone that says otherwise doesn't have their facts straight. Also compare how the rest of the world treats drug use, and you see that the USA stands alone in this approach. Certainly I beleive dealers of mass volume and seriously harmful drugs should be stopped, especially if bribery and killings are involved, but there should be no issue with someone who needs a little marijuana to treat Glaucoma or Chemotherapy patients. Now if a huffer of legally obtainable paint and glue type products goes off stealing, etc... certainly they should be tried for the stealing, but part of the sentence should also include rehab.
ReplyDelete