Disgusting, foul drug he took while on leave (10)

I believe the answer is:

furloughed

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'took while on leave' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with social activities as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'disgusting foul drug he' is the wordplay.
'disgusting' indicates anagramming the letters (a disgusting or rotten ordering of the letters).
'foul'+'drug'+'he'='fouldrughe'
'fouldrughe' is an anagram of 'FURLOUGHED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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