I realize that this may not be an appropriate forum for my inquiry.  However I am hopefull that someone can answer my question or perhaps refer me to another source of information.   

I would like to know what types of past behavior can disqualify an applicant to the NSA. If I should clearly be disqualified because of my past I do not want to beat the polygraph or put myself through any unnecessary stress.

My concern is over marijuana use, about 3 times in the last 7 years, the most recent being about 7 months ago.  I also used a harder drug several times about 7 years ago.  Will this automatically disqualify me?

anon1234,

In general background investigators for national security positions frown on recent drug use, be it the hard stuff or the light stuff. An NSA position requires a Top Secret clearance at the minimum, and drug use as recent as some months ago will definitely not act in your favor. I suppose it depends on whether they think you are a habitual user or a one time experimentor. Unfortunately, when it comes to drugs, these investigators tend not to believe in one-time events and typically construe any admission to one-time use into a pattern drug abuse. If your admission does not disqualify you, your polygrapher will grill you on the specifics, and they will rely on your polygraph to check if you've done more drugs.

This Topic was moved here from Polygraph Policy [move by] Administrator.