I'm talking about myself and you. You have no idea what you're talking about because you've never been there. I do because I HAVE.
The reformed and redeemed cocaine addict is the wiser choice than the guy who's never been around it. The former cocaine addict knows better than anyone how very damaging and dangerous the drug is. The former cocaine addict knows what to look for, while people like yourself wouldn't know a cocaine-using exec in your employ if he grew his little fingernail extra long and poked you with it.
Your thinking on what makes someone "automatically" less or more qualified, is shallow and poorly contemplated. As for disregard for the law ... a large number of the greatest, most productive people in American history, including Dubya, have broken the law. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes of a true American hero, Chuck Yeager, a guy who, on a personal level, has shown some fine disregard for the niceties of convention! But our world is better and safer because of him and guys like him who know the difference between a loser and a the guy who pushes the envelope and learns from it:
"My friends and I always figured that rules are for people who aren't willing to make up their own." -- Press On, by Chuck Yeager
So you're saying that a person who used to be addicted to cocaine is more qualified than someone who hasn't? Please. Let's put it this. Someone who has a criminal conviction could and should have a make against him when I
m considering hiring him. He or she better have a whole bunch of positives to offset that big negative.