LSD usage DQing when I was 16 teen

[Bellmandude]

I'm working as a computer programmer right now and given the current job market in the field I'm thinking of changing careers. Law enforcement has always appealed to me for some reason.
Anyway, I'm preparing to start applying to different PD's and was wondering about getting DQ'ed because of my past drug usage. I've only smoked marijuana 8 times (last time being 8 years ago) and I tried LSD when I was 16 (I'm now 28). I'm not worried about the marijuana, but I am worried about the LSD. It was only a half of hit???? ;)
Does that matter? Will I be DQ'ed right away? I've seen other post about LSD were folks have used it multiple times, but since I only did it once and that once was only half a hit I was wondering if that made a difference on DQing me? I've already made the decision that I will not lie during the process, but I want to make sure it worth the effort to try.

[tino1]

The best thing you can do in any application process with an LE agency is not lie!! Tell the truth, be up front about it. You do have quite a few years behind you with the mj/heroin use so that's a plus. Best of luck!

[Raven231]

tino,

To be completely honest with you I would say that agencies are going to look at the LSD use even though it was a long time ago as a serious issue, as far as flashbacks are concerned.

There is no way to tell when or where or if they will even happen with someone but if it does while you were on duty are they willing to take that as a liability. I am not saying that you can't get hired it just may not be near as easy with that in your history, but as was said before be homest about it because it will bite you if your not.

Anyway I don't like bringing bad news to people on this board but I also believe in being honest.

Raven231 :firedevil

[ATF SAC]

I moved this thread into drugs and law enforcement to invite you to look around at some related material. Raven is being straightforward, LSD is tough and the rules don't include dosage. However, once again the rules vary. What you need to do is to look beyond some of our discussions of right and wrong in this Forum and recognize that for you it is most important to find out what the agencies you might be interested in have as a written pre employment drug policy. No point in applying to someone like ATF for example that is an absolute no for anything but MJ less than 10.

That said, I would have a heart to heart with a recruiter and get a sense of what happens in the actual process. If it is an agency that has a more liberal pre employment policy and actually hires under that policy you should give it a shot.

I've lost a step since retiring, but the old investigative urge kicked in this morning so I did a web search on "prior drug use and police hiring". Information is available on how prior drug use is affected by the American's with Disabilities Act (not really affected) and information from news articles to police recruiting pages.

Found an interesting article in the Rocky Mountain News in which an FBI spokesman said that only 30 to 40% of applicants had not had prior drug use. this was a response to a move by Denver to make its pre employment rules stricter. Article has that crack of doom air that makes newspapers so annoying, but if you read it you will see one thing and I will share another. Although the article states the Bureau relaxed its policy, they also have not hired anyone with more than a little MJ experimentation. What the article doesn't say is that many agencies are happy to cull 60 to 70 percent of qualified applicants. Recruiting 10 to hire 3 or 4 is typical of many agencies and low for a lot. But most local agencies do not have big nationwide recruiting budgets, and may need to get a better return. Frankly, the return for an applicant on this may well be lower pay, or a difficult department.

Guess the short summary is you need to do some searching and be a bit careful about what may seem positive news in terms of a particular agency's policy but that not all doors are closed.

Bad news is that right now, fueled by private sector cutbacks and patriotic impulse, got a lot of applicants, so the competition is probably more severe. Balanced a bit by the economy which has hit local and state revenue streams hard so vacancies may not be fillable. Latest news seems to be a trend up in some revenue streams, which may create the perfect mix of demand and opportunity for you. So don't dawdle and start exploring.