What are symptoms of someone with a cocaine problem?

[undeterred]

I have a co-worker who is really irritable and moody. He's a bully towards me half the time. Other times he's in an ok mood. He calls in sick a couple mornings a week. I looked up his court records and he has a conviction for possession of cocaine and some other drugs that is 3 years old. Either something is really affecting his moods or he is a total asshole. I wouldn't mind seeing him fired but I don't know if I am really reaching here.

[lligrd]

1. Lots Of Sniffing

Why are you checking a co-workers court records? Perhaps you should get a job with the * administration.

[undeterred]

6. I was complaining about him to two of my other co-workers

and they told me about it. Apparently they look up every new person. I'm boring.

[undeterred]

7. Yes loads of sniffing.

Always has a "cold". Never sneezes or gets congested though.

[Inchworm]

2. Assume he/she's an asshole first

call him/her on it. Dont jump to drugs unless you have known this person many many many years and how he is acting is out of char. Even then it could be anything.

His dog may have got hit by a car.. family stuff.. yada yada.. well, you know

Just my twisted thoughts :)

:hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

3. You look up your coworkers court records?

Series?! Wow....That's fucking uncool.

[undeterred]

8. Actually my co-workers look up everyones court records

and they told me about it. Its public information.

[datasuspect]

12. most employers do this prior to getting a job

a recent felony conviction for PCS (any amount of cocaine is a felony) would surely have barred him from getting the job in the first place. unless your company doesn't do background checks.

[undeterred]

13. Actually there is a disclaimer on the page

which says that employers are not allowed to use it against you. That surprised me. However the recruiter takes you out to breakfast and sticks a drug test stick in your mouth after breakfast so thats what they count. However, you know its going to happen and its the day before you start the job so you're pretty stupid if you can't stay clean for awhile before starting the job.

This guy is acting really messed up and its affecting everyone at work. Comes in late, leaves early, irritable, blames other people. Blows up over everything. I think he must be using. I wish they would drug test all of us unannounced next week- that would be fair. His conviction was in 2004 and they do background checks. He doesn't hide the fact that he is a party animal every night of the week though, and its hard to come in to a job that starts at 7:30am when you are up drinking and using blow the night before.

[madinmaryland]

27. Wow. Are you looking for another job?

If not, you should be, because if things are slow enough that you and everyone else can spend all day looking up people's records then you are going to be shit out of a job soon.

:wtf:

www.monster.com

[undeterred]

28. Spending all day?

Takes 30 seconds to try to figure out why one persons behavior is affecting the whole group negatively. No one is doing it at work. If you don't like it, don't do it. It's not illegal. The information is public. Sounds like you are very defensive about something in your own record.

[Breeze54]

4. Extremely talkative and sweating to the extreme.... when high.

.

You're describing coming down...or 'the lows" but he's probably depressed.

People who abuse street amphetamines are self-medicating to "get happy".

They probably are depressed and need anti-depressants and counseling.

[ellisonz]

5. That sounds like booze.

[undeterred]

9. Or all of the above.

[Mike03]

25. Hmm, that is true too

In a later post I suggested painkillers, but it is definitely true it could be booze.

[Kali]

39. that was my thought as well

[Mike03]

10. Hmmm.

Dilated pupils when he/she is high.

Jaw grinding, whether using or coming down.

Missing work, after a binge.

Exhaustion, when not using.

Unrealistic expectations and self confidence when under the influence.

Sometimes a cocaine addict will drink alcohol to augment or neturalize the effects of cocaine.

Frequent disappearances.

[Generic Brad]

26. Did you just describe the president?

[Mike03]

11. Although, the symptoms you described can be true of many

other drugs as well.

[undeterred]

15. Its the irritability that is striking

I've seen the depression, difficulty concentrating and getting to work. But he's really angry and defensive. I'm sure he doesn't think anyone notices, but everyone does.

[Mike03]

20. Could it be prescription painkillers?

I have people very close to me who are addicted to these.

Vicodin, Oxycontin, Oxycodone?

In some cases, these drugs are more likely to cause radical mood swings than cocaine, especially if they run out of them.

Coke has such obvious signs, like the sniffing, huge pupils and constant working, restlessness and total self confidence.

Other drugs have more subtle ups and downs.

Do you think it might be something else?

Another thing to consider is that a lot of abusers who give up cocaine gravitate towards the painkillers.

[LeftyMom]

42. The irritability sounds like Oxy.

I've never known anybody who was abusing it who wasn't an absolute dick to everybody in a mile radius.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. He or she acts like our Pretzeldent.

Though that's technically the behavior of an alcoholic cocaine-using psychotic, not just a cocaine user.

[undeterred]

16. Why is it so hard for an employer to recognize?

The supervisors kind of tiptoe around him - they should be confronting and referring him.

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. Lawsuits.

They can't fire him for being an addict - they have wait until he does something that's truly fireable, fire him for that, and never, ever mention drug use. And even then, there's unemployment.

Unless you are a "hired at will" workplace, in which case they can just let him go.

But suggesting to an employee that they might have a drug problem is like slitting your financial wrists and giving that person the band-aids and saying "Close 'em up whenever you feel enough blood has come out".

[pitohui]

22. they can't fire him for being an addict? why not?

addicts are not a protected class and i know lots of addicts who have been fired over and over again and if they could live off lawsuit winnings instead of trying to get real jobs, they would

of course you can fire an addict, you can fire an alcoholic too -- in fact you're putting your business at risk if there's an accident and it is shown that you allowed an addict/alcoholic to work there -- it's called negligence

more likely the addict is related to somebody powerful and that's why they haven't kicked his ass to the curb

[undeterred]

29. I've certainly seen people fired for alcohol problems

in the past. I'm not sure how the managers approached it. All I know is the recruiter who placed us or employer has the right to do a drug test on any of us any time they want. We are a group of contractors so yes, we are easy to get rid of, even though he has been here over a year. I'd guess if the recruiter gave him the same drug test on Monday he would not pass.

[mark414]

17. does he clean/organize a lot?

[undeterred]

30. Yes.

But he also hoards things that are supposed to be shared by the group. Our supervisor put him in a separate room (which locks) because he doesn't get along with anyone. But he acted like it was a promotion! He put a sign on the door saying how everyone was supposed to make sure his door was kept closed at all times so things wouldn't be stolen. Then he kept group property in the office so we would have to go ask someone with a key to open the door and let us get it. And he got mad about it. Everyone walks on eggshells around him because he blows up over any little thing.

[mark414]

31. is his name Dwight Schrut?

no..but seriously, that sounds like a coke problem.

i had a roommate who had a bad one and as bad as a problem like that is, i have to be honest that it was kind of nice to come home from work or wake up in the morning to find a previously trashed house to be completely spotless...cause he wouldn't sleep all night or he'd be up all day cleaning.

unfortunately i'm not sure what, if anything you can do about this...

[struggle4progress]

44. There ya go! Be sure to need something from the locked room five or six times a day,

every single day that he's absent.

[mitchum]

19. Making a big budget remake of some stupid TV show

[Chovexani]

21. If they look like this

[Mike03]

23. P.S. This is one Lounge Thread worth recommending,

since so many of our lives are touched by addiction, either our own or family members or close friends.

[Inchworm]

24. Hunkered in the corner of a room with a shotgun and a pissjug

thinking the Feds are gonna kick the door any second.

better? :P

[mountainvue]

32. Coke jaw. They grind their teeth and make funny movements

with their mouth/jaw.

[KitchenWitch]

33. You did not mention paranoia.

[undeterred]

34. I haven't seen paranoia

just extreme agitation and irritability. I don't know what he is thinking.

[itsrobert]

35. Sound exactly like an employee I had

He has a coke problem. Very sad. He threw away his career.

[Mojambo]

36. Do they go to the bathroom a lot? Use a lot of slang, like saying "man" all the time? n/t

[PeaceNikki]

37. Are you considering making the accusation to management?

Do you think they see the same symptoms as you do?

I'd just be VERY careful about making that accusation or implication to management and/or co-workers. It's awfully presumptious, even if he fits every stereotypical "symptom" as listed via strangers on an anonymous message board.

If he's bullying you or seems troubled, maybe consider talking to him? :shrug:

[undeterred]

41. He flies into a rage around me.

So, clearly I am not the person to talk to him.

[rug]

38. Presidential Seal on his cowboy boots.

[Kali]

40. ...

:spray:

[struggle4progress]

43. I know a number people with a history of substance abuse, with whom I've discussed

the issue on various occasions.

As a general rule, you might think of substance abuse as an (ineffective) way of dealing with certain kinds of psychological tension: instead of addressing the real issues, the person becomes intoxicated. So (for example) people who feel stressed in certain social settings may escape by claiming to be tired, then go drinking.

For this reason, there are some general personality symptoms sometimes associated with substance abuse. These include: secrecy and/or dishonesty (needed to hide the abuse from others), a tendency to blame others (needed to hide the underlying psychological problem from oneself), and poor anger management (or other indicators of stress resulting from the underlying problem). Low self-esteem seems to be common, though it may not be evident to observers, who notice instead the blaming of others that masks it.

Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon for people to relapse under stress, even after extended clean periods.

What you can or should do, in your circumstance, is less clear.

First, you probably cannot identify the actual problem accurately from casual acquaintance: the person might be clean (for example) but still unable to handle certain stresses well. Second, unless the person has decided that some help is needed (whether for a substance problem or a psychological problem), intervention is tricky. Third, certain problems (including substance abuse) may turn people into expert manipulators, in which case you might prefer the person doesn't really learn very much about the workings of your mind. And, of course, there is the whole potentially sticky glob of workplace politics.

The situation is best if your responsibilities and his don't overlap: then you can just try to ignore it when he's a jerk, minimizing contact and being as cheerful and uninterested as possible when he's a bully, especially if there are witnesses.

If you have to work closely with the person, and there's a danger that he may blame his screw-ups on you, you might do well to quietly keep some sort of paper record for yourself, distinguishing what you did from what he did and noting what part of his job you had to do because he wasn't there. If it really gets bad, you might try discussing with your supervisor the fact that you would benefit from better delineated job responsibilities, because it can be difficult to fill in during his frequent health problems.

The situation is worst if he is in a supervisory position over you, in which case you may have to be carefully creative.