Wat do u think of alcohol and tobacco! They are much more addictive and damaging.
True. Wouldn't want them blasted out of their minds on booze, either, however it is all too often that the line gets hazy, and then they start rationalizing, if I just drink/smoke/shoot/snort *just once* this morning, nobody will know the difference....
It happens. Look at the Docs and others who keep getting busted for dipping a little extra out of the pharmacy, or the anesthesiologists who think, well, if I just fondle ONE patient while she's out...then it becomes another, and another....next thing you know, they're running from the police. There was even a doc in San Diego who is on the wanted list, they think he ran to Canada.
Still, if your family always keeps it on times when they won't remotely have to use their skills as MD's, their battle with the law is up to them. Hope they have some sort of ORM in place, if you will. (I can't have a drop of alcohol, for instance, anywhere within 12 hours prior to briefing for a flight-and forget about anything illegal. They do random urinalysis and that's a huge career ender that follows even when you get out.
John P.