John,
 Most law enforcement agencies allow for "experimental" marijuana use as a teenager or young adult. By experimental I mean usually 1-5 times but it varies with each agency and I presume some have a zero tolerance policy. 
 As for the questions that you should expect I would refer you to the free booklet on this site "THE LIE BEHIND THE LIE DETECTOR". It has pretty good examples of pre-employment polygraph screening questions. 
 My own personal recommendation to you would be to not attempt to conceal your past experience with marijuana as it may come back to haunt you in a background investigation. As far as using countermeasures on the polygraph exam? Read the booklet and decide for yourself. I myself have fallen victim to this hideous interrogation technique 3 times with a federal law enforcement agency and have been labeled "inconclusive", which generally means that they couldn't detect if I was lying or telling the truth. With those results they automatically assume that you are lying about something! And I was a Police Officer just trying to go to a federal agency. 
  Good luck with your endeavors and don't go into a polygraph exam blindly, read the books and experiences that people have had on this site.

Hi, i have to take a lie detecter test for a state police job and i did more than just experiment with drugs, but for the last 15 years i havent done a thing, as a matter of fact ive been in the marines for 10 of that and have a piss test every other week, is the poly just going to inquire about the last 10 years?

Fred,

Thanks for the reply, I have already read the book, an excellent source of information, on the background i told them exactly what i told the Marine recruiter in 1990, that i smoked marijuana 3 times in 1983, ill stick to that. What do you think about Doug Williams' book "Sting The Polygraph" is it worth the $48, ill do anything for the job, or is it the same as "The Lie Behind The Lie Detector" Thanks again for your time.

Fred F.

Thanks for the input, do you know how for back they ask about? Do they say have you ever or do they say in the last 10 years?

Godzilla,

I think that background questions are likely to cover your entire life and not be limited, to, say, the past ten years.

Fred F.,

You wrote:
Quote:


I disagree with your categorization of the sample questions you provided. "Have you ever used marijuana?" (or, perhaps, "Other than what you told me, did you ever use marijuana?") is a likely relevant question, not a probable-lie "control" question.

And the question "Are you telling me the truth today about your drug use?" is not an irrelevant question, but a relevant question.

Quote:


I have to agree with George on the question categories. However, most pre-polygraph questionnaires cover everything since the early or mid teens.

I'm applying for a position at the sheriffs dept. and have read "The Lie Behind the Lie Detector" and have decided to go with the honesty approach. I'm ashamed about this, but I have one work record from my previous employer of stealing a sandwich from the store. This is true, though I've taken alot more than one since I started. It wasn't hard to take the sandwiches since there was no cameras or any other security devices, but if someone saw me, I'd be in trouble. They finally caught me, but they don't know of the countless other incidents. It's a big company that paid crap so to me it was like being my own Robin Hood. But it's still theft. My question is if I answer this truthfully will the sheriffs dept. still concider me or will I have to look for a job somewhere else?