Addiction Doesn’t Make You Bad: Expert
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 14:56
The host of the television show, Drug Class, says anyone struggling with an addiction should not be shunned and made to feel like a bad person.
Rand Teed, who is also a board member of the Saskatchewan Association for the Betterment of Addiction Services and an internationally-certified prevention specialist in drugs and alcohol, says SABAS is concerned about the efforts of some chiefs to remove FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild from his position because of his recent impaired driving conviction.
Teed says he isn’t certain what the chief’s motivations are, but says they are taking a very negative view of alcoholism and characterizing it as a moral weakness when in fact it’s a treatable medical disorder.
He says archaic views like these stem from a lack of education.
Teed says Lonechild would not be treated this way if he was battling cancer or diabetes as opposed to alcoholism.
He also notes a person can’t be fired for having alcoholism unless they lie about it and refuse treatment, and he says Lonechild has done neither.