Hello,

When i was a teenager i experimented with a few different drugs while my parents were getting divorced. I did smoke marijuana on a regular basis for a short time. On some applications they ask if you have ever "sold" drugs. I was not a dug dealer but a few times when i had marijuana i did have friends who purchased it from me. ( maybe 3 or 4 "transactions" ) I never made any money and i was not trying to be a "dealer" . I have no Criminal record and i am 23 years old. I have since gone to a Bible internship for 3 years and i am married to my wife that i met there. I want to be a police officer, but i am hesitant because of my past.

Summary
Will experimental drug usage other than marijuana DQ me?
It has been more than 5 yrs
Are the handful of times that drugs and money were exchanged with friends enough to DQ me?
More than 5 yrs
And marijuana usage has been Almost 5 years now.

( I plan to be honest about my past and i will not LIE about the things that i have done. )

Advice is welcome.

There is much competition for law enforcement jobs. Even selling a small amount a couple times to your friends will cause you problems. I think if a police department requires you to take a polygraph test, and you pass, you could still have a chance to get hired. The only problem is that there will probably be many other applicants that don't have the experience with drugs that you do.

You wouldn't have a chance with my department.

So finding a department without a polygraph seems to be a better solution then?

I think you might have a better chance with a department that does require a polygraph test because departments will probably be suspicious that you might have sold drugs more than you are letting on. Passing a polygraph test might convince them that what you say is true.

Thats a great point Jasmine. Unfortunately at 16 years old i did not have the foresight about the effect my choices were having on my future. I am disappointed that the decisions i made as a boy will be haunting me as a man. That's life though. I will be persistent in my efforts to continue after this career path, and I am fully aware that some departments will turn me away. I am hoping that i will be able to make it through the initial elimination period and start a career as a LEO. I would make a fine officer, so i will not give up.

Good luck!

Don't bother being honest on those polygraphs if it is something that will disqualify you.

What you have to ask yourself is, if they were to hire a private investigator to ask people you know about you, would one of them likely talk about you selling drugs?

I know that you haven't done it in a long time, but believe me when I say even though I am not a cop.... An agency 90% of the time WILL NOT hire you if you admit to having sold drugs in the past, no matter how long ago it was. I can't really explain why they won't let it go if it is long in the past but they usually will not.

If you are asked about it on a lie detector DO NOT disclose it. There are ways to manipulate the machine into confusing its readings when you get to questions like that.

All cops will say "well it's important to be 100% honest..." BS! If they really believed that they wouldn't lie to you by saying a polygraph machine will be able to tell how honest you are.

The examiners do tricks to make you believe it works. One common one is they will ask you to draw from a deck of cards without showing them, and they will ask you to answer no to every question and when they get to your card they will tell you the machine told them you lied. They are lying. They had you draw from a deck where every card was the same. The sad thing about this test is almost half of the people will fail who tell the truth.

I have read in some departments that any type of drug sales will disqualify you, and any use of any "real" drug like crack, LSD, or other hallucinogenic drugs will automatically disqualify you. I would think that a few times of using marijuana will not disqualify you, but from what I have read each department is different and if you will be a "main player" it is much, much harder with little blips on your background.

I am no expert, I am also applying soon, so I do not have professional advice. Good luck

I have read in some departments that any type of drug sales will disqualify you, and any use of any "real" drug like crack, LSD, or other hallucinogenic drugs will automatically disqualify you. I would think that a few times of using marijuana will not disqualify you, but from what I have read each department is different and if you will be a "main player" it is much, much harder with little blips on your background.

I am no expert, I am also applying soon, so I do not have professional advice. Good luck

police departments will find a reason to DQ you... there is a lot more to being a cop then just the background investigation. nowadays it's even harder but I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that if you did a background investigation on some of the officers you would find something from their past that is now getting people DQ,ed. It's best to start knowing people in law enforcement because if you are not of the inner circle you don't stand a chance.

I heard that the use of any hard drug will disqualify.
Selling weed will most likely DQ you.