THC Use - Am I f'ed? Any recourse?

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hello All,

I had a question about any potential recourse for my situation:

I am (or was) a prospective employee for the NSA’s development programs. I completed the interview stage and was prompted to fill out the SF-86 form. For this, I honestly answered that I had consumed illegal drugs (marijuana) within the past 12 months and that I since have quit due to a myriad of factors, potential job required urine tests for one. I’m aware of the distinction between federal and state drug classifications, but I answered this truthfully because I figured the agent in charge of the check could find this out anyway thru my release forms and couldn’t imagine disqualification based on a drug legal in my state.

I got notice that my clearance was closed and got this email

It has come to our attention, through the completion of the SF-86 (security forms) process, that you disclosed the use of illegal drugs and/or misused prescription drugs within the past 12 months. As a result of this, you are not eligible to continue processing for employment with the National Security Agency (NSA) and at this time and your processing will be discontinued. You may consider re-applying for a position with NSA once this 12-month period has passed. Before reapplying for NSA employment, please consider that the Office of Personnel Management and the Director of National Intelligence have affirmed that persons who engage in illegal drug use are not suitable for federal employment and are ineligible to hold a security clearance.

So essentially, I am wondering if there is any recourse in this situation - like people from the office that I can try to hear me out or file a formal appeal of some sort. Moreover, is this type of drug use traditionally disqualifying? Do people who use marijuana or THC simply not respond affirmatively to this type of questioning? This whole situation sucks, as I am an entry level candidate having a tough time finding entry to the CS field.

Thanks for reading.

2

Agencies such as the FBI, NSA and CIA have their own requiements set when it comes to drug use and can set specific time thresholds, as long as they apply it across the board to all applicants. You have no recourse or appeal. If you did not disclose it up front it would have come out during the polygraph, so better for you to just have to wait out your time and reapply.

3

Thank you for your response Marko.

I understand that I would just have to wait most likely.Though, I was more wondering if affirmative responses to this question are consistently negating applications to these industries, or if it was a more case by case basis. For example, if a drug is prescribed medically?

Even looking at past posts on this forum, it does seem that some people have answered affirmatively and gotten past this step.

4

If the marijuana was prescribed medically it would not matter due to federally it is a schedule one drug and not approved for medical purposes. If the drug you are taking is approved for medical use and you are taking it as prescribed it is not illegal. If you are not taking it as prescribed or are taking someone else’s medication it is illegal. Whenever there is an issue on a case it is assigned a code to distinguish how drastic the issue is. Consuming drugs in the last 12 months are assigned a more drastic code than having consumed drugs less recently. The more time that has passed since the last use the less drastic the code that is assigned. Consuming drugs in the last 12 months is certainly a valid reason to deny a clearance.