Jobs elude former drug addicts

And many, like Ms. Rook, also recognize that it's a difficult issue for employers. After she had been clean and sober for 2-1/2 years, she had a chance at a high-level job representing a corporation. Her last hurdle was the interview with the chief executive officer. When she asked if he had any questions about her recovery, she says his "jaw dropped," and he wanted to know recovery from what. After she told him, the job offer was withdrawn. At the time, she was devastated. But she got over it, and the experience has propelled her into advocacy work.

Yet she also says that as long as negative stereotypes remain attached to people in recovery, she understands the CEO's response. That's why she's on the front lines, fighting those stereotypes.

But for employers who are concerned about good workers and stability on the job, the issue is more complicated.

A recent survey of people in recovery found that 46 percent had relapsed, and of those, 30 percent had stumbled more than once. Treatment advocates note, however, that relapse is part of the healing process. And the longer people are in recovery, the less likely they are to go back to old destructive habits.

A New York employer, who owns a variety of businesses, agrees that the negative stigma attached to the word "addiction" has an impact on employers' attitudes. That's primarily because the goal is to hire the best person, and "when you throw in something so negative," that potentially can override other factors.

"If one does hire someone like this, it becomes a personal matter, and one has to take more effort watching and supervising that person. It is possible to do," says employer, who preferred not to be named. "But if one has a choice between [a person who's] been addicted and one who's not, one would go for the person who's not addicted."

But treatment advocates counter that what employers and the country as whole need is a better understanding of the recovery process.

"When people who aren't familiar with the process see the drug addict have a relapse, they think: 'They're just drug addicts, they're one and the same, they go back to their drugs,' " says Peter Provet, president of Odyssey House, a drug-treatment facility in New York. "That perpetuates that negative stereotype that is dominating the public."

Dr. Provet says the public needs to understand – just like every addict – that while relapse is a real possibility, if someone gets back in the saddle right away, chances are they'll stay in recovery like millions of Americans who are quietly getting on with their lives.

"You will never see a front page headline that reads: 'Woman in successful recovery for six years mows lawn over the weekend,' " says Rook. "But that's what millions of us do, and as a country we have a choice: Do we want to support that, or build more prisons?"

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