Question by William C: If I go to rehab for treatment?
If someone goes to a drug rehabilitation centre for treatment willingly, would they receive a criminal record for drug possession/dealing?

Best answer:

Answer by delbotcia
Absolutely not. Your participation in drug treatment is confidential and the treatment center will not reveal or discuss your participation there with anybody. You enjoy the same doctor/patient confidentiality there as you enjoy at a doctors office.

It’s perfectly safe to honestly acknowledge past drug use, possession, sale, and similar behaviors in drug treatment – even in group therapy with other clients – without worrying about what you say there being used against you in court. You won’t be grilled for explicit who/where/when details on these past behaviors by your counselor or by anybody else at treatment anyhow, but you will be asked general info such as what substances you’ve used, how often you used them, what age you started, etc.

Keep in mind that if you’re already in legal trouble, then entering treatment looks good to the judge but won’t necessarily buy you a free pass from the charge that you’re already facing. If you’re in legal trouble, then court/probation can require you to go to treatment as a condition of staying out of jail. They’ll make you sign waivers to your confidentiality so that they can get updates on your progress from the treatment center, but the reports which they receive will contain only basic details of things like your attendance, participation, and progress. Details beyond that won’t be included.

If you’re not in legal trouble though, don’t worry that voluntarily entering treatment on your own will make the authorities realize that you’ve been entangled with drugs — it won’t. They won’t and can’t find out.

It’s probably not safe to admit to very serious unsolved crimes such as murders, rapes, burglaries, etc. which the police are actively working as open cases while in treatment; but it’s okay to admit that you have a problem with illegal drugs, that you’ve sold them, that you’ve stolen to support your habit, etc.

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