I've received some info to fill out for the CIA application process.  I'm a little nervous because it asks for drug use during the last 12 months.  Last June I smoked marijuana a few times while traveling abroad.  Haven't touched it since and have never been a habitual user.

Should I disclose this?  If and when I get to the polygraph round I imagine 12 months would have passed since any use.  The CIA website says drugs shouldn't have been used in the past year.  What should I do??

tangowhiskey wrote on Mar 28^th, 2006 at 6:19pm:


From my limited experience, the CIA is slightly more "understanding" when it comes to such minor drug use than other agencies. That said, you need to make a decision - will you be candid, evasive, or deceptive? 

I would advise being candid - if it was a couple of smokes in June, they may overlook it if you're an appealing enough candidate. There is, however, the risk that someone will see that and just ding your file immediately - sending you back to square one with the other shmoes (i.e., forced to use the dreaded and painfully impersonal CIA job application website, wait months and months, etc etc). 

You could include a brief note on your application file explaining what you said here (non-habitual use, done in a context where it was culturally acceptable/possibly legal, and so on). Also, by the time the poly rolls around, 12 months doubtless will have passed.

There may be one other option, though you may not like it. Find out if you could hold off on sending in the application materials till June. They (probably) made you wait a few months - they may be understanding and wait a few months themselves.

Should you choose to fudge it (thinking maybe "9 months, 12 months, who's counting?"), you wade into treacherous waters. Will they find out, for a fact, that you smoked up in June '05? Unlikely. But if and when the polygraph rolls around, hesitation on your part may spell your doom (notwithstanding proactive measures).

So your options, essentially, are as follows:

• tell the truth in hopes of understanding
• try and drag out the application so 12 months pass 
• lie under the assumption that 12 months will have passed by the time the polygraph begins and/or assuming you won't have trouble with the polygraph.

Others feel free to chime in.

Fairchance:

What a contradiction. First you advise him to wait untill he meets the "spirit" of the application and then you tell him to answer with "ethics."

I'm thinking about just being honest and admitting to the usage.  If they decide to discard my application, I have no one to blame but myself.  I'm at the point in my life where I can't keep other career plans on hold waiting on a dream.   

Thanks for all your help.  Let me know if you have any other insights.