Security Clearance for Internship

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

I imagine this is a fairly common topic of questioning here but I’m still fairly concerned so here we go.
I was recently accepted for an internship that will require a Secret clearance. Unfortunately, I’m also a college student (this is an internship for students) who’s used marijuana infrequently in the past. Not more than once every couple months. I haven’t used it in the past 7 months, and it would be over a year since I used by the time the internship started. I view my use as a mistake, have disassociated from many of the individuals involved in my use, and have no desire to continue using regardless of if I get the clearance.

I recognize that the process is what it is and I may be denied as a result of this, since I am less than a year removed from using. However, I’m concerned that I’m shooting my self in the foot by applying and potentially having a denial on my record. Is that something I should be concerned about? This internship would be an amazing opportunity but obviously not worth the risk if I potentially screw myself over in my desired area of work this early.

Thanks

2

Just my view . . . If you waited two years, you still have to admit the use and still have to mitigate it (time, youth and experimentation being the mitigating factors). If you get denied now, you have to report the denial, the reasons will come out and you will have the same mitigating factors in your favor. I don’t see a difference except that you will not have the cleared work for two years.

I don’t think that a denial like this will have much effect. If you were denied for candor, foreign influence, habitual drug or alcohol use, you would have a more difficult time mitigating the denial because those things are harder to mitigate.

Again, just my view . . . Go for it . . .