I know what the problem is.  You should have fasted for 24 hours and gotten a good nights sleep.  That would have eliminated 2 of the hundreds of variables which prevent polygraph from being a quantifiable science, and it might have lessed the squiggly lines just a little, in order for the examiner to give his opinion that you were being truthful.  Of course, that opinion itself is based on the assumption that you lied to the examiner when he asked you control questions, (where they presume you told little white lies).

Then again, maybe you were thinking about Bill Clinton using drugs, but not inhailing.  That could have set the squiggly lines in motion.

Maybe your mother had a sister, who dated a guy who was once busted for drug possession, and that thought crept into your mind at the very moment the drug question was asked.

Or maybe, just maybe you heard the question wrong, and thought they meant dog, instead of drug, and that caused your squiggly lines to go nutso...

angryliar,

So very sorry to hear what happened to you.

I recommend you contact Mr. Sackett who is a polygrapher who posts here regularly.  He may well be able to give you some valuable insight into why you failed.

Contrary to what you may read from the many disgruntled ANTI-polygraph cry babies here, the polygraph is a VERY ACCURATE TEST with tons of scientific data to back it up!

You must not have disclosed everything.  It is  very important to COOPERATE with the examiner, and disclose anything and everything that might be bothering you about the question you had trouble with.  Polygraphers are there to HELP YOU get through the test.  You should have taken advantage of that!

On the other hand, even though the polygraph is grounded in sound scientific principles and is a highly accurate test, there are many, many capricious variables involved with this process.  It is VERY HARD to control them all.   

Then again, you may have just had a BAD EXAMINER.  It happens.  Some examiners don't take the FULL 14 week training course, but opt for the  more abreviated 7 week course.  Did you say anything disparaging about the process during the exam?  If you did, you may have offended him/her.   Unfortunately, polygraphers are human and often sensitive to such insults.

At any rate, don't become a cry baby like the other losers on this board.  Just take your "spanking" and get on with your life.  And don't go blaming an entire industry based on your highly unusual, and isolated case.

TC

lol...I already have. I signed the online petition and plan on writing my Senator and Congressman. Now I have to take a VSA for another department next month.

Your experience is all too common, and I understand your frustration and anger, having had a similar experience myself.

I hope you'll consider helping in the effort to put an end to polygraph screening. Apart from participating in the discussions on this message board, you'll find ideas on how you can help on our "Get Involved" page:

https://antipolygraph.org/get.shtml

This has got to be a typical post on these boards. I took a poly and failed the drug portion after telling the truth. Then I took a retest yesterday and still failed. This is sooooo frustrating. 

So I just get off the phone with my background investigator 2 minutes ago and he asks me what the real story with my drug use is. I told him that I would be lying if I said anything different. My investigator said he would submit my file as a voluntary withdraw so I may re-apply in another year. 

Thanks but no thanks. I'm so over this poly BS. One of the worst things is to be called a liar and know you are not.