CHL Eligibility and Past Alcohol Treatment

[TEX DRAGO]

Thx txinvestigator. Yes I have read this post thoroughly and the laws, but I'm not understanding them. This post seems to support yes and no. It's been over a year since treatment, and there were no legal entanglements requiring me to go there; it was personal and I had the opportunity and took advantage. Thank you for anything you can find; I'm searching everywhere and not making much headway.

 

[TexasRedneck]

TexDrago...

If you weren't diagnosed as an alcoholic, but sought treatment on your own, it may not even apply to you.

 

[TEX DRAGO]

TexasRedneck,
I'm pretty sure alcoholic is the automatic diagnosis upon entry based on how they use that term, but I "graduated" with whatever word they use for "cured." (Different from bacon?)
The yellow page in the application says *Please provide letter from physician for current status of treatment. It looks like Final Diagnosis is key, but then again, this is the same part of the form that is also for intense psychiatric conditions. ??? THX

 

[TexasRedneck]

Ah - but the thing to do is research the specific wording of the law. Often, there's a simple phrase "found to be...", which would indicate that you have been legally judged by a court of jurisdiction. Often, voluntary commitment does not fall under that category. You need to discuss the specifics with an attorney if you can't find clarity within the statute on your own.

 

[bkj]

Ask DPS/CHL they have an e-mail on their web site

 

[Harley Rider 55]

Legal jargon can be such a pain in the a**.

 

[TEX DRAGO]

Yep. I emailed the chl dps. I'll post what they say. I hope its an answer.

 

[LonghornAR15]

The statute says something to the effect of "if you have, at any time within the last five years, received treatment for chemical dependency". Which means if you have been in any clinical drug/alcohol treatment program, all of which are classified as chemical dependency treatment. It doesn't matter, according to the law, whether or not you went voluntarily.

As far as the part about obtaining a letter from a psychiatrist, it is not about the final diagnosis you received in treatment. With a successful discharge from a CD treatment program, the best diagnosis you could hope for is that your "chemical dependency is in partial remission", which wouldn't mean that it "cannot be reasonably expected to redevelop at a later time", which is what the law requires.

A letter from a psychiatrist is going to have to determine the current condition of your chemical dependency based on DSM-IV criteria. To satisfy the "not reasonably likely to develop at a later time" condition I would expect your chemical dependency would have to be in "sustained full remission", which according to the DSM-IV requires abstinence for at least a year, and possibly some other things if I'm not mistaken. I don't have a copy of the DSM-IV handy, so these terms may not be exact.

So, if you went to treatment within the last 5 years, and you want a CHL, you're going to have to get a letter from a psychiatrist stating that your chemical dependency is not reasonably likely to develop at a later time. I am pretty sure of this. I started this thread over a year ago I think, and in that time I have pursued licensure as a chemical dependency counselor (I changed my mind and decided to go to law school, lol) and still haven't gotten my CHL, as it turns out it's kind of a pain in the ass to set up an evaluation with a psychiatrist, especially through insurance. However, now that the LSAT is over I am gonna try and get it done, and I will post on here with my experience, successful or otherwise.

 

[TEX DRAGO]

The email on CHL/DPS yields me no response if anyone else is curious for an update.