I am 17 years old and will be a senior in high school this year. I have smoked pot more than 15 times in my life and most likely over 20 times as well. The only hard drug i ve tried in my life is ecstasy and it was once few months back. My life plan is to graduate college with a major in political science and minor in law or criminal justice. I will be in ROTC and most likely serve 2 years on duty and 2 years reserves. I m going to be trying out for the 75th regiment rangers. I m not an arrogant person. I am academically and physically capable of accomplishing these plans. I m not a kid who thinks that the life as a Ranger will be as easy and "cool" looking as it does in Black Hawk Down or any movies. I am fully aware of risks/responsibillites to perform any of these thing that i said i will do. The question i m asking is that with this profile, if i follow up on everything and stay away from drugs or DUIs will i be able to get a job in LAPD or FBI. I don't think i could get a job in FBI no matter how well i perfrom in the military or what i accomplish in school because of my past experience with marijuana. But i m wondering now as i think about colleges and the future of my life, if staying away from partying through my senior year and college years will be worth it when it comes to applying for the LAPD. If there is no way that i can be in LAPD at all because i of what i ve done. I would rather major in something else and get another job. Please respond. If i do apply for LAPD or FBI, it would be 7 years without drug use and with a military backround as a special forces officer. From my academic backround so far in high school i would assume that i would have at least 3.5 gpa or higher in college as well. I m willing to take responsibillity for my past actions and behaviour. I just dont think that it should be held against me when i m not the same person anymore and i have proven myself through years experience and staying  clean. 

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All your comments and responses will be very appreciated. It seems that i m younger than most of the members here. I am asking this because i trust this website and community. I do believe in what this oragnization stands for and will not and dont plan on using any of the counter-measures for my polygraph test. This is why i m asking. So that i can be fully honest several years from now and get the job by earning it. Thank you and you dont understand how much this will affect my future.

The last time that i smoked pot or tried ecstasy was when i was 16. Would being a minor at the time help at all?

Also how much is drinking in college going to affect the application process for government jobs that do polygraphs or for LAPD? I would imagine not very much as long as i dont DUI or do beer runs as long as i prove myself through academic and military acheivements as well.

And thank you sergeant1107 for helping me out.

cavhan7,

Seems like you have made some good plans with a worthy goal ahead of you.  Keep your mind on your goals and the rest will usually take care of itself.   

Having a college degree and serving as an officer in the US Military will make up for past indescretion.  Do well in your studies, graduate with as high a GPA as you can manage.  Pay attention in ROTC and learn as much as you can there.  It will give you a good jump start as you enter active or reserve military service.   

Continue making goals and striving to achieve them!   

I wish you good luck and success with your future plans!

  (sorry, couldn't help it!) 

I'm a little troubled by some of the responses here.  If he doesn't use drugs and avoids doing anything that would lead to a criminal record, who is going to know in five years he took ecstasy unless he himself divulges this information?

I think some of the most honest people end up getting screwed because they have tried to make changes in their behavior and carry some guilt about their past misdeads - so they 'confess' hoping that the federal agency will understand and in some manner excuse what they did years before.  The real sociopaths will have no such compunctions and will lie through their teeth and sail through security screening procedures.

Is honesty really the best policy????

Should disqualification from a job be based on mistakes you've made in the distant past or should it be based on the chances you will make mistakes in the future?

For many people a period of experimentation is part of growing and they end up learning from mistakes... they are probably a lot less likely to have problems in the future than if they hadn't experimented.

There is also a certain perversity in a system which punishes candor and honesty while rewarding deception and cheating.

polyrized wrote on Aug 10^th, 2005 at 11:23pm:

Experimentation is normal, I agree.  I think that is the reason why if an applicant admits they drank beer in high school, or smoked a joint or two in high school, they are not automatically disqualified.  No one expects to hire saints.

But I also think there is a difference between normal experimentation and habitual drug use/illegal activity.  A person who smoked marijuana fifty times, or a person who “experimented” with ecstasy five times, falls more into the latter category.  A person, even a teenager, should be able to recognize that using drugs is a mistake.  Once they realize that, they should stop.  If it takes them a long period of time and many uses before they realize their mistake, they are probably showing less responsibility and wisdom than the person who comes to the same conclusion after smoking one or two joints.

Does that mean that, ten years later, they would make a bad cop?  Probably not.  But if they are standing next to an applicant who is similar to them in every other way, except for the fact that they have little or no drug use in their past, which one would it be more reasonable to hire?

As far as a person’s chances of making a mistake in the future, how on earth would you ever quantify that?  The only possible method of predicting future activity is to look at a person’s past activity, and that is inaccurate as often as it is accurate.

polyrized wrote on Aug 10^th, 2005 at 11:23pm:

I agree.  But at the end of the day you have to look yourself in the mirror and know that you were honest and responsible.  If the agency to which you are applying doesn’t believe you are good enough because of past transgressions, then move on with your head held high.  Who cares if someone else lied and made it through?  Don’t let it bother you – their karma will catch up to them eventually.

Good luck with your plans.  If you survive RIP, Ranger school, airborne school and deployment, your character will have matured to the point of wiping away some of your youthful sins.  Just make sure you don't add to the list.

Signed,

11B40RP,
'67-'71
2 Bat, 75th Infantry