<prompt> Human: Hi Reddit! Long time redditor with a brand new throwaway! Posting from mobile and not an English major so this may get ugly. I have been employed with a major power company in southern Indiana for the last 10 years. I have felt stuck in this position that I do not enjoy for the past 5 years because the pay is great and the jobs market in this area is pitiful in comparison. I do however love the people that I work with. Just over three weeks ago my wife confiscated a dime bag from our teenager 16yrs old. My wife and i smoked weed in our youth but neither of us smoked weed since college about 18yrs ago. The following Friday night all our kids 3 were out of the house and would not be returning until the next day. My wife and I went out to dinner and I had a couple drinks. When we got back to our home I remembered that we still had her grass and since I had only been tested 2 times in the last 10 years that I could probably get away with smoking a little nugget. The following Tuesday nearly 20 people were summoned for random drug screens including me! I freaked out but my only option was to comply with the testing. The next Monday the company that performed the testing called to inform me that I tested positive for Mary Jane. I immediately went to the HR office and spilled my guts to our VERY nice hr clerk. She told me that our company has a second chance program and if I would jump through their hoops I would be allowed to return to work after I could pass another urinalyses. I was driven off of company property and was wished best of luck. Later that day I was contacted by a more senior hr rep from corporate who explained every thing exactly like the first lady did and gave me the contact number for the program and instructed me to call it within 24 hours. I immediately called and was asked a number of questions and was told that I would receive a call back when a substance abuse professional had been found to work my case. Two days later I had not been contacted so I called the number again. I was then given the numbers for my case worker in the program 3rd party, and the substance abuse professional that I would be seeing. I was told that the substance abuse worker was in another town which is an hours drive from my home in western KY. I called my case worker to make first contact, explain my situation, and inquire about the steps ahead. Her voice mail informed me that she would be out of town until the 27th yesterday. I then called the substance abuse worker to make my first appointment for Monday the 26th. I went to my first appointment in which I filled out many questionnaires and was then schooled on the many dangers of marijuana. She also told me that I would have to attend 6 of these one on one meetings before returning to work. She also said that she believed that I could only complete one per week but she would call and confirm this with the 3rd party company and call me to let me know. She then told me that she felt I was very low risk and that after completing that first meeting I only had 5 more to attend. After returning home i purchased an at home drug test which i passed. At 8:30 the same night I missed a call from the substance abuse lady. She left me a voice mail stating that she had spoken to my case worker from the third party company and I would only be allowed to attend one meeting per week. She also said that the case worker felt that since my THC levels were so high that she felt I would not be able to pass a drug screen any time soon anyway from one bowl? WTF? She then ended the call by saying that the first meeting I attended was more or less only a fact finding session and that I would need to attend 6 more sessions instead of 5 more like she had told me earlier. So, to clarify I am the sole income for our home. This is my second week of unpaid suspension. And I would be off without pay for at least 6 more weeks! My wife and I have some savings but not enough to get by without pay for 8 weeks. I am now trying to find some work to keep at least some money coming in during this time. We are freaking out. The next day yesterday I tried again to contact the case worker that I was assigned in order to get the facts. Her voice mail again states that she was out of town but to leave a detailed message which I did. I then called the number back and requested to speak with anyone available that could help me. I was then told that my case worker was in fact at work and they would connect me to her. I reached the same voice mail and politely asked her to call me when she could. I still have not heard from her over 24hrs later. This third party company is also my insurance provider for any behavioral health issues. I do not believe that I will be eligible for unemployment benefits tho I am going to try to file. What assistance programs may be available to me during this period? When applying for jobs in the meantime how much of this do I need to explain? I need work now and feel that explaining what has occurred will only close doors of opportunity but I do not want to be dishonest. Any advice you have would be of great help. I know what I did was dumb. But come if, 8 weeks off work for smoking one bowl of weed? I got kids to feed, so I gotta get off here and go get another job. Thanks Reddit, have a GREAT day. I swear this was many paragraphs when I posted it not just one long run on paragraph.  <response>: You wife should be looking for a job as well. See what kind of side jobs you can find on Craigslist. Maybe your neighbors need help with something. 