Wasn't she a recovering heroin addict? In one of the last episode of season 1 she was still on subutex... Is that realistic? Surely the rules are stricter than that.
It's one thing for a police officer developing problems, but if the problems are pre-existing... Or have existed beforehand... No?
I do not remember the mention of subutex, but she was drugged when she was kidnapped. There was no mention of her being a user prior to that.
shareI'm 100% sure she is given subutex by her mother when she is returnd home after the kidnap. Maybe the writers screwed up, didn't realize what subutex was, but clearly she was taking it beforehand. Ipso facto, recovering addict. Subutex is not prescribed for anything else.
Strange it was never mentioned beforehand...
From the script (probably copyright):
Season 1 Episode 5
The GALLAGHERS arrive home. ANN will have been in hospital, and then giving evidence. ANN sits down. NEVISON and HELEN are all over her. She’s shaking. She’s got withdrawal symptoms from the heroin TOMMY injected her with.
HELEN
Could you eat something?
ANN
No. I don’t know. Should I?
HELEN
You need to take the Subutex.
ANN
Yeah. Yeah.
HELEN gets it out of her bag.
So, my mistake. They should have made that clearer in the actualy produced show.
She became an addict after Tommy injected her with heroin when she was in the caravan to keep her quiet. When Catherine was in the hospital Ann told Catherine she 'refused to become an addict'. Therefore I think she became addicted during her kidnap but never touched it again afterwards. As a result I imagine the police would let her in as it wasn't poor judgement in character that led her to taking heroin as she was forced. Plus the second season is set something like 18 months in the future so by this point she would have been well clear of the drug.
shareApparently, it's not impossible. The department will look at in on a case by bais. At least in the US.
"Having a history of drug use does not mean that one cannot become a police officer. People with substance use in their history, however, have to be realistic about the possibility of becoming a police officer. Chances are that if a person has an extensive history of using hard drugs over an extended period of time, has used illegal drug s or recently or has been involved in the sale or distributions of illegal drugs, they will not obtain employment in a major municipal police department. This having been said, experimental drug use in one’s youth especially if that use is not very recent will not bar police employment in many agencies."
http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/can-you-become-police-officer-history-drug-use
So is as the other poster mentioned, Ann's addiction was the result of her kidnapping and not a choice, it's very likely that it would not keep her from joining.
I don't trust people who don't like pets and I don't trust people who pets don't like.