The Evaluating Commission for Psychoactive Substance Use Prevention Specialist certification shall be empowered to suspend, revoke or deny renewal of a certification issued to any prevention specialist or prevention assistant, if it is found that said person has incurred any of the following practices:
(a) He or she has been declared to be mentally unfit by a competent court, or if his or her disability is established before the Commission by medical experts; Provided, That the certification may be issued as soon as the person is declared to be fit again and meets the requirements provided for in this section.
(b) He or she is an alcoholic, a drug user, or a user of other psychoactive substances which interfere with his/her mood and cognitive processes, and he or she does not present evidence that he or she is under rehabilitation; Provided, That the certification may be issued once this person presents evidence that he or she is fit and meets the requirements provided for in this chapter.
(c) He or she has been on probation or parole for a crime and has been released from court supervision for a minimum term of two (2) years before applying for certification.
(d) He or she has obtained certification or has pressured another into obtaining certification through fraud or deceit.
(e) He or she has been convicted of a felony or a crime which implies moral turpitude.
(f) He or she has incurred, in the judgment of the Ethics Committee of the Commission, dishonest conduct, incompetence or gross negligence in the practice of his/her specialty.
(g) He or she is proven to be in breach of the Code of Ethics for Psychoactive Substance Use Prevention Specialists after a complaint has been processed by the Ethics Committee of the Commission.
(h) He or she is proven to be in breach of any of the provisions of the regulations of the Commission.
(i) He or she is found guilty of violating any ethical principle as defined in the Code of Ethics for Psychoactive Substance Use Prevention Specialists pursuant to the sanctions established in the regulations of the Commission.
Any injured party may file a complaint before the Evaluating Commission for Psychoactive Substance Use Prevention Specialist Certification or before the Department of Health against a prevention specialist who incurs violations of this chapter. The complaint shall be presented in writing and be sworn to by the person lodging the same before a notary public.
The Commission shall investigate the complaint and take action within sixty (60) work days from the date the complaint was filed. The Commission shall be under the obligation to notify the person accused of violating the law, to give him/her a copy of the complaint, and to notify him/her of the exact date and place in which a hearing shall be held. The procedure provided for herein shall be established through regulations.
All orders or resolutions of the Commission suspending, revoking or denying the renewal of a certification after having expended the Administrative Procedures established in the regulations, may be reviewed by the Court of Appeals within a term of thirty (30) days from the date of notice to the person concerned of the decision.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 369, § 16, eff. 90 days after Sept. 16, 2004.