What is my chance of getting an interim confidential clearance for a civilian job with DOD?

General Questions
#1

This is for a confidential clearance. I do need the interim confidential clearance to start the job. I want to know if I can get the interim. Thanks

Drug experimentation (say about 1.75 years ago) I only smoked pot about 4 times. (I was never arrested or reported by authorities. No other aggravating facts, such as using drugs while on security clearance or on law enforcement duties).

  • It was during college. Since graduation, I do not associate with my former drug-using friends nor any individual using illegal drugs. To my knowledge, they are all gainfully employed and have dropped the habit.
  • The drugs were offered by friends at social gatherings. I have never possess, cultivated, sell the drugs or own any paraphernalia.

-I intend on no more involvement with illegal drugs, as they are incompatible with my career goals. If I ever get involved with drugs again, I am willing to have my clearance revoked.

No speeding ticket, no misdemeanor, no arrest

I do not have any other adverse reasons.

#2

This recent thread has some information that is probably relevant to the question. Obtaining An Interim Security Clearance!! (HELP!)

#3

In my experience, they won’t care at all that you smoked pot in college.

#4

If you become a DOD employee, having your clearance revoked should be the least of your worries. Getting involved with [illegal] drugs is grounds for removal from federal service.

#5

Perhaps less now that you’ve posted about it on a public forum.

#6

I hope you have a long and successful career, and rise high enough in the government to have the power to change the policies and remove marijuana use as an issue whatsoever.

#7

Why do you suppose that would make any difference?

#8

As I stated in the other thread that Crazyhorse, past minor drug use by itself if you otherwise don’t have any other red flags should not disqualify you from a clearance, and doubly so if it is just Confidential. As I recall, they ask about its use within the last seven years on the SF86, but I gather you are a somewhat recent college grad (i.e. it hasn’t been seven years since you graduated), so I can’t imagine an adjudicator wouldn’t take that into account and give you a pass on it.

#9

Consider one thing. One that IS key in security clearance, as it IS all about TRUST.
Lying would torpedo you. Period, end of story. Being honest and open is big in this game, lest you be a potential blackmail victim that could then be leveraged against the nation.
Or, so the mindset thinks. Personally, I think it’s a blanket ignoring spectrum, but it’s a least effort mentality and hence, valued, due to pure volume of requests.
Confidential clearances, in the clearance world, are pretty much given out like candy, as opposed to secret or top secret (ignoring alphabet soup sub-qualifiers).
What the investigator would consider is, was the drug use a month ago, six months ago, a year ago or longer, ad absurdium.
Self-reporting carries a positive weight in the evaluation.
But, in TODAY’S world, prior drug use of “gateway” drugs in the relatively recent past (as in college graduate) isn’t highly negative, as opposed to dishonesty or harder drug use and OTHER risk prone behavior (see the recent Secret Service Protective Service debacle for more risk prone behavior idiocy).
Or to be blunt, ALL consider an applicant a pot smoker, “didn’t inhale” is BS, as all really know. Hence, risk is OTHER behavior that might create a risk.
As in heavily addictive drugs (narcotics, amphetamines and a small handful of others), GENERAL behavior (patronizing prostitutes, excessive sexual indiscretions, etc).

Or most telling: I drink like a fish, previously used and disliked communism (important when I got my clearance initially), but got a TS with alphabet soup clearance and retained it for three decades.
I know pot smokers who self-reported previous use and got cleared initially and subsequently.
Confidential is a nothing much clearance, it’s BARELY above For Official Use Only (aka FOUO, which is NEARLY public, but not quite).

I’ve oversimplified it by a lot, but the intent should be relatively clear, as far as clearance matter things go.
BTW, one responder said 7 years, that is for TS, not S or C clearance, which use 5 years as a benchmark, when flags aren’t present. But, I’ll not go into flags. It’d get ME into trouble and for good reason.
IN short, self-report. You’ll not be in as big of a problem than if you tried to hide that which may well be easily found.