I realize questions about weed usage get asked a lot here but I haven’t seen anything about previously holding a medical card.
im 23 and I’ve been clean for 9 months now. I emailed this title question (better worded obviously) to a recruiter at the dept I’m looking to apply to in a neighboring legal state and he simply replied that applicants need at least 12 months since last use but didn’t say anything else. card was initially perscribed for anxiety and chronic back pain due to my scoliosis that would cause nausea. the anxiety has since resolved, I continued to renew it to help with the pain and pretty severe insomnia that I developed about a year after getting it but insomnia isn’t a qualifying condition in my state. I now take perscribed sleeping pills
I decided to cancel halfway thru my 5th year of having it because it was causing anxiety I didn’t have before and my bf started the police academy, it was then I realized I really wanted to do the same. he recently started as an officer and I will be applying to the same dept him and my mom (25 years on the job) are working for. they are severely understaffed and currently advertise a 15k sign on bonus and mom says they’re raising starting salary again next year to encourage new applicants because there’s a wave of retirements coming.
the chronic pain is still a thing for me but it’s gotten much more manageable by going to the gym 5 days a week and using topical alternatives like icyhot. I’m also about to finish my Cyber Security degree that I was halfway through at the time that I quit weed, I’m doing it thru an online accelerated school
as for everything else I have no criminal record, no other drug use except for drinking probably once a week, and no gaps in my employment history since 14 except for a few months recently where I was helping bf thru the academy while transitioning thru jobs.
what are my chances at getting hired if I apply when the year is up?
sorry for long post and thanks if u made it this far 🙂
Comments
You have physical and mental health issues in addition to very recent (and consistent?) drug use. The drug use is way too recent and I’d also be concerned about passing a psych eval.
Having a valid card is synonymous with “using”. Your card must be canceled/expired a year before application will even be considered.
If you apply at a year and a day expired card and someone applies with a year and a half off they will always go with the “better applicant”. The longer the time frame, the better the chances.
Find a new career to pursue. Let me just start with your documented habitual drug use would be a DQ. I’m not even mentioning your medical and mental issues.
If they need you they’ll make it work. If there’s competition, this will be a knock against you.
Different states and departments have wildly different policies and attitudes around weed.
You know you want the job so go for it. Pd’s in legal states going to stop considering weed a disauifying factor in the next 5-10 years for sure. Federal departments like the usps already have
If youre having anxiety / panic attacks this field will not be for you. You will be put in hourly stressful situations and once you freeze up you will get yourself or your partner harmed or possibly killed. Start out with records / property and work your way up within a city job.
Back problem? That might bite you right there. They are thinking you might be a soon-to-be workers comp case. Duty belt + long periods of sitting a car; and in a physical altercation and they might just be right.
I’m assuming you probably lied about the anxiety, as most do, to get your card. That’s an integrity issue because you’re willing to lie for drugs. If you didn’t lie, and had such debilitating anxiety that you had to use federally illegal drugs (even if legal in your state) in order to cope with life, then you’re a liability in law enforcement and the stress of this job will absolutely cripple you. I’d find another career. But that’s just my two cents.
Slim to none.
Get your CDL and drive a truck. đź›»
Agencies only care that you’re complying with policy. If it simply says 12 months, once you have 12 months, move forward with confidence and have answers for everything.