Dabbling in Disclosure

By Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D

LICADD, by law and by ethic, has always steered clear of electoral politics. Still, the public disclosures of past drug use by candidates for NYS Attorney General are worthy of some discussion. Not because some of them smoked pot or used coke twenty years ago, but because these disclosures can be golden opportunities for education – “teachable moments.”

The press will always ask the question and absent candidates’ willingness to answer en masse, “It’s none of your business,” the response should be more than a one-word answer. In some cases it has been, with candidates expressing regrets about drug use or pride in abstinence. If we are going to have the discussion, we should have it in the right way.

We don’t want young people to walk away with the impression that dabbling in drugs is consequence-free (“See, he/she did it and everything is fine.”) any more than we want them to believe that if you make some mistakes, you can’t go on to become Attorney General. These disclosures offer a great opportunity to talk about the nature of addiction – why some people can stop using and others can’t – and the impact the disease has on individuals, families and communities.

For any of the AG candidates who copped to using, an arrest would have likely changed their destiny. Sure, they’d be successful and have good jobs, but they probably wouldn’t be running to become the state’s top law enforcement official. Same goes for our nation’s President or any of the thousands of electoral candidates or elected officials who have admitted to drug use. That even experimenting or so-called “casual” drug use can kill your dreams is a worthwhile conversation to have with our kids.

Drug and alcohol use was serious and dangerous 20 years ago, but it’s even more so today. We’ve got new, more potent and accessible drugs, and the legal consequences for drug and alcohol-related offenses are more severe. Odds are that tomorrow’s challenges will be even greater, which is probably why we should be focused less on the past and more on what political candidates are doing and saying right now.

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