Federal agencies and drug use.

[Lilly]

Hi. I applied to a couple of police departments, after getting turned down by the FBI (I think it is because I had a pretty rough GPA), but I got turned down by the police departments as I had used marijuana a couple of times and magic mushrooms once. This all happened a couple of years ago (the drug use I mean). So I don't want to give up and am hopefully going to go back to grad school in the fall and will do everything to put myself in a better position. So my question is what are Federal Agencies policies on past drug use? Will putting time between what happened be useful with my Masters? Or am I wasting my time? Are Federal Agencies as strict as police departments on drug use? Thanks for your time.

[Switchback]

Generally speaking, the feds are tighter guidlines than many local departments. Generally, minor marijuana use will not necessarily DQ you... I am thinking the shrroms might giveyou some problems, though. Regardless, the more time you put between you and the time that you did the drugs, the better your chances. Use that time to make yourself more marketable through school, volunteering, etc.

[Nole795]

Hi. I applied to a couple of police departments, after getting turned down by the FBI (I think it is because I had a pretty rough GPA), but I got turned down by the police departments as I had used marijuana a couple of times and magic mushrooms once. This all happened a couple of years ago (the drug use I mean). So I don't want to give up and am hopefully going to go back to grad school in the fall and will do everything to put myself in a better position. So my question is what are Federal Agencies policies on past drug use? Will putting time between what happened be useful with my Masters? Or am I wasting my time? Are Federal Agencies as strict as police departments on drug use? Thanks for your time.

The mushroon will be an issue. To get on to a federal agency with only a college degree is very hard. Your post does not mention about work experience, but that is an element that is also taken into account.

There are thousands of applicants that have applied with the FBI from various backgrounds and work experience. Don't think they turned you down just for the low GPA. You have a lot of competition you are going up against from lawyers, police officers, computer programmers, language linguist, etc. Best advice, stay away from the dope, get you graduate degree, enter the work force, keep a stable job, and keep applying to different agencies. Your gonna need patience as you will find out.

[steve1568]

If you go to this link: http://www.fbi.gov/employment/bookle...nfobooklet.pdf and scroll down to page 4 you will find the complete FBI drug use policy which addresses times and how long you would have to wait.

[chewy]

I ditto those above. Even to get into Fed. service as an 1801,1895,0025,etc, not to mention 1811 jobs, the Mushrooms are a significant problem. Your degree is a help but you would want to pursue a graduate degree and, if possible, any other LE experience you can get. There are thousands of people that apply regularly and you need to be as marketably competetive as possible. A little time, your degree and some other experience will be the key. That said, there is no limit on how many times you apply for positions so I would recommend you just keep applying. I would suggest (I don't know what Fed. job your looking at but assume its an agent job as thats what most people seem to want) you try for an Officer job with any one of the multitude of Federal agencies that have non investigator LE positions. Some of the non-1811 jobs are a little (not a lot) easier to get and if you get lucky you can get a couple years in and establish a good background then start applying for whatever your chosen (dream) agency and you'll stand a better chance. Again, don't stop applying, you never know what will happen, good luck.

incase you don't already know, you can go to www.usajobs.gov and search for all federal jobs by job title or state location, or agency. This is a good way to find out about what jobs are available and where. Plus you can sign up with "my usajobs" and post your resume and information then sign on with your user name/password and a lot of the jobs will let you apply directly through usajobs rather than mail. Some still require you mail it but a lot are going to the electronic application process.

[Lilly]

Thanks for all the help, very useful. Also, I am taking donations for grad school. Just kidding.

[Group9]

The bad news is that the FBI has the most liberal drug use policy of any federal agency that I know. But, I think mushrooms would have kicked you out of their application process if you had made it to the BI.
Some small use of marijuana while young and not knowing better is forgiven by many agencies to varying degrees. Hard drug use is generally not forgiven by any agency.

[tomahawk134]

Group 9 hit the nail on the head

tomwoolworth

[intheaircop]

You just should of kept it to yourself. I have a close friend who has done just about every drug out there and has been a police officer for close to 10 years. Now I do not think it is a good idea to lie but who else knows you have used drugs in the past besides you?
I have never used any drug before except for a few hits on a bong while in college. I told the truth because I did not think it was a big deal but I did not have to take a ploygraph either, so I asked myself later this; Why did I tell them that in the first place. Now please everyone on this post do not think less of me. It was just a thought.

[steve1568]

I know from first hand experience, the FBI asks each of those drug related questions during their polygraph so unless you can "beat the box" it would come out eventually.

[greenlead]

You just should of kept it to yourself. I have a close friend who has done just about every drug out there and has been a police officer for close to 10 years. Now I do not think it is a good idea to lie but who else knows you have used drugs in the past besides you?
I have never used any drug before except for a few hits on a bong while in college. I told the truth because I did not think it was a big deal but I did not have to take a ploygraph either, so I asked myself later this; Why did I tell them that in the first place. Now please everyone on this post do not think less of me. It was just a thought.

Lying is never the correct answer. The truth will come out.

[Kimble]

You just should of kept it to yourself. I have a close friend who has done just about every drug out there and has been a police officer for close to 10 years. Now I do not think it is a good idea to lie but who else knows you have used drugs in the past besides you?

Are you serious? No offense here, man, you're a fed and I'm still shooting for a federal position as a career goal, but why in the H-LL are you telling someone to lie in during a LE application process (federal none the less)? Again, I don't mean to be rude, but I would have thought better coming from a federal LEO. I'm a bit disappointed. Have you never heard of Giglio, and how a defense attorney can use this against a FLEO? I mean regardless of polygraph use, if an applicant/employee of a FLEA were EVER discovered to have lied about their drug usage they would be finished, as in LE your integrity in the courtroom is everything!

[tunlrat]

Lilly:
This may be off the beaten path a little, but have you considered an internship or co-op w/ a Fed agency while in graduate school? As long as you stay out of trouble while in school, the time it takes you (let's face it--master's degrees take a while) to finish may be enough time to put your "past" behind you in terms of future LE applications. Like others have said, you also have to make yourself more marketable during this period, especially for an applicant in your position. Consider seriously what you're getting a graduate degree in as well. Is it in advanced "basket weaving" or something like "Computer Information/ Systems/ Programming with a focus on Euro-Asian-Middle Eastern studies/ policy with a sub focus on linguistics & translations?" You get my drift right? ;)

The internship/ co-op would be beneficial to you in so many ways. It would expose you to real life in the biggest bureacracy in the known world & you could build an invaluable network (damn, I'm still p/o'd I didn't get that FBI internship in college). The people you'd work with in your particular field office could also answer & address your concerns about your past. Just a thought...

BTW, the above isn't a real degree graduate program. That would be cool though (not the basket weaving--although I almost majored in that)!! :D

[Group9]

You just should of kept it to yourself. I have a close friend who has done just about every drug out there and has been a police officer for close to 10 years. Now I do not think it is a good idea to lie but who else knows you have used drugs in the past besides you?
I have never used any drug before except for a few hits on a bong while in college. I told the truth because I did not think it was a big deal but I did not have to take a ploygraph either, so I asked myself later this; Why did I tell them that in the first place. Now please everyone on this post do not think less of me. It was just a thought.

There was a period in my federal life where I had the collateral duty of doing TS background checks for applicants in one federal agency and where I was heavily trained for it, but never did it, for another agency that is the one primarily responsible for classifed background investigations i this country. Of the ones I did do, I wish I had been paid on commission for every lie that was told that the applicant never thought we would find out about.

The key to any good background is the "developed reference". This means finding people who know the applicant well who he did not list on his application, and never in his wildest dreams, imagined you would find and interview. The only limit to this is the background investigator's imagination and training. A lot of people who you think would lie for you, don't figure they have any horse in the race when an investigator shows up and starts asking question.

And, searching for lies is like searching for weapons. Once you find one, you start looking even harder for another one.

I'm sorry Intheaircop, but that is bad advice.

[Nole795]

You just should of kept it to yourself. I have a close friend who has done just about every drug out there and has been a police officer for close to 10 years. Now I do not think it is a good idea to lie but who else knows you have used drugs in the past besides you?
I have never used any drug before except for a few hits on a bong while in college. I told the truth because I did not think it was a big deal but I did not have to take a ploygraph either, so I asked myself later this; Why did I tell them that in the first place. Now please everyone on this post do not think less of me. It was just a thought.

Horrible advice to give an applicant. Two bad reasons to lie: One, you get caught being deceptive to one federal agency, your chances are shot that any other Federal Law Enforcement Agency will even look at you; second, If the user lies on a drug past to get a federal job, and the truth is found out, that applicant can get arrested for falsifying or concealing material facts to get a TS Clearance (USC 18 1001).

Intheaircop,
Think about this, if you had lied during your processing, and later seeked to lateral transfer to another federal agency that does polygraph, what would be your options? Especially in your line of work, I know you want to keep those options open in case later you do want to transfer.

Just a thought.