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ISCR Case 22-01393 — CASE

ISCR Case 22-01393denied

Case Headnote

ISCR Case No. 22-01393

deniedApr 27, 2023· Hon. Charles C. Hale· hearing

Summary

A 63-year-old retired federal employee was denied a security clearance under Guideline H (Drug Involvement) due to his admitted and intended continued use of marijuana after retirement. The Statement of Reasons specifically cited his varying frequency of marijuana use post-retirement and his stated intent to persist in this activity.

Disqualifying conditions under Guideline H were raised, including those related to drug involvement and expressed intent to continue drug use. While mitigating conditions concerning the passage of time since drug involvement were considered, they were ultimately not sufficient to overcome the security concerns.

The Administrative Judge determined that the applicant failed to mitigate the concerns because he admitted to ongoing marijuana use and expressed no commitment to abstain. Furthermore, he did not provide evidence of actions taken to overcome substance misuse. Consequently, eligibility for access to classified information was denied.

Why the Applicant Was Denied

The applicant admitted to using marijuana after retirement and expressed intent to continue its use.
The applicant did not provide evidence of actions taken to overcome substance misuse or a commitment to abstain from drug use.

Conditions Referenced

Disqualifying

AG ¶ 25(a)raisedAny Substance Misuse
AG ¶ 25(g)raisedExpressed Intent to Continue Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse

Mitigating

AG ¶ 26(b)rejectedAcknowledgment of Drug Involvement and Evidence of Actions Taken to Overcome the ProblemThe applicant acknowledged his drug use but stated his intent to continue using marijuana and did not provide a signed statement of intent to abstain.

Key Rule Quoted

“[N]o one has a ‘right’ to a security clearance.”
— Department of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518, 528 (1988)

Procedural Posture

SOR issuedOct 5, 2022
Answer filedOct 24, 2022
Hearing heldApr 27, 2023Decision issued after a record review without a hearing.
Decision dateApr 27, 2023

Cite For

Denial of Security Clearance Due to Expressed Intent to Continue Illegal Drug Use
Rejection of Mitigating Conditions When Applicant Does Not Demonstrate Commitment to Abstain From Drug Use
Importance of Federal Law Over State Law Regarding Marijuana Use in Security Clearance Determinations

Editorial summary generated for research. Not legal advice; not a prediction. Verify against the full decision before relying on any quoted language.

Standardized Decision Profile

SEAD-4 Guideline H (Drug Involvement) · descriptive summary of a decided case

Posture: Decision on RecordDecided: denied

The judge found that the applicant used marijuana with varying frequency after retirement and intended to continue using it. The formal finding was against the applicant, concluding that this conduct was not consistent with national security interests.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Substance / event	Use level	Response	Disqualifying (¶25)	Mitigating applied (¶26)	Mitigation
1.a	Applicant used marijuana with varying frequency after his retirement from the Federal government and intended to continue using marijuana.	Against Applicant	Marijuana	Frequent	Admitted	—	—	—

Descriptive standardized rendering of a decided public case (Guideline H). The verbatim source decision is shown in full below.

Full decision

The complete, official text — footnotes and signatures included — is in the original PDF.

Decision text, by section

DEFENSE OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS

HEARING

APPEARANCES

______________ ______________ DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEFENSE OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS In the matter of: ) ) ) ISCR Case No. 22-01393 ) Applicant for Security Clearance ) Appearances For Government: Karen A. Moreno-Sayles, Esq., Department Counsel For Applicant: Pro se 04/27/2023

STATEMENT OF CASE

HALE, Charles C., Administrative Judge: This case involves security concerns raised under Guideline H (Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse). Eligibility for access to classified information is denied. Statement of the Case Applicant submitted a security clearance application (SCA) on September 10, 2021. On October 5, 2022, the Department of Defense sent him a Statement of Reasons (SOR) alleging security concerns under Guideline H. The Department of Defense acted under Executive Order (Exec. Or.) 10865, Safeguarding Classified Information within Industry (February 20, 1960), as amended; DoD Directive 5220.6, Defense Industrial Personnel Security Clearance Review Program (January 2, 1992), as amended (Directive); and the adjudicative guidelines (AG) promulgated in Security Executive Agent Directive 4, National Security Adjudicative Guidelines (December 10, 2016). Applicant answered the SOR on October 24, 2022, and requested a decision on the written record without a hearing. Department Counsel issued the Government’s file of relevant material (FORM) on February 9, 2023, including documents identified as Items 1 through 3. On February 13, 2023, a complete copy of the FORM was sent to Applicant,

who was given an opportunity to file objections and submit material to refute, extenuate, or mitigate the Government’s evidence. He received the FORM on February 25, 2023, and provided an unsigned typed Response. The case was assigned to me on April 3, 2023. The SOR and Applicant’s Answer and Response are the pleadings in the case. Applicant did not include any evidence with his Answer or Response. FORM Items 2 through 3 are admitted into evidence without objection. Evidentiary Issue FORM Item 3 is a summary of a security clearance interview conducted on January 12, 2022. The PSI summary was not authenticated as required by Directive ¶ E3.1.20. Department Counsel informed Applicant the interview was being provided to the Administrative Judge for consideration as part of the record evidence in this case, and he was entitled to comment on the accuracy of the interview; make any corrections, additions, deletions, and updates necessary to make the summary clear and accurate; object on the ground that the report is unauthenticated. After reviewing Applicant’s Response, I conclude that Applicant waived any objections to the summary. “Although pro se applicants are not expected to act like lawyers, they are expected to take timely and reasonable steps to protect their rights under the Directive.” ISCR Case No. 12010810 at 2 (App. Bd. Jul. 12, 2016).

FINDINGS OF FACT

Applicant is 63 years old. He holds a bachelor’s degree. He worked in the Federal government from February 1998 until his retirement in 2018. He now works part-time as a consultant. He married in 1993 and has one adult child. (Item 2 at 7, 12-14,19, and 21.) In his Answer to SOR ¶ 1.a and his Response, Applicant affirmed his SCA answers, that he used marijuana with varying frequency after his retirement from the Federal government and that he intended to continue using marijuana. (Answer, Response, and Item 2 at 37.) He told the investigator in his security clearance interview that he intended on using marijuana in future and did not intend to stop. (Item 3 at 4.) Applicant explained in his security clearance interview he did have a medicinal reason for using marijuana and detailed in his Response that he used marijuana medically after a major surgery. (Item 3 at 2; Response at 1.) He also acknowledges he used it for non-medicinal reasons. In his Response he stated he did not want to lie about his marijuana use. He noted the prevalence of marijuana use in the U.S. and the trends towards legalization in expressing his hope that an otherwise qualified applicant would not be disqualified solely based on marijuana use. (Response; Item 3.)

POLICIES

“[N]o one has a ‘right’ to a security clearance.” Department of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518, 528 (1988). As Commander in Chief, the President has the authority to “control access to information bearing on national security and to determine whether an individual is sufficiently trustworthy to have access to such information.” Id. at 527. The President has authorized the Secretary of Defense or his designee to grant applicants eligibility for access to classified information “only upon a finding that it is clearly consistent with the national interest to do so.” Exec. Or. 10865 § 2. Eligibility for a security clearance is predicated upon the applicant meeting the criteria contained in the adjudicative guidelines. These guidelines are not inflexible rules of law. Instead, recognizing the complexities of human behavior, an administrative judge applies these guidelines in conjunction with an evaluation of the whole person. An administrative judge’s overarching adjudicative goal is a fair, impartial, and commonsense decision. An administrative judge must consider all available and reliable information about the person, past and present, favorable and unfavorable. The Government reposes a high degree of trust and confidence in persons with access to classified information. This relationship transcends normal duty hours and endures throughout off-duty hours. Decisions include, by necessity, consideration of the possible risk that the applicant may deliberately or inadvertently fail to safeguard classified information. Such decisions entail a certain degree of legally permissible extrapolation about potential, rather than actual, risk of compromise of classified information. Clearance decisions must be made “in terms of the national interest and shall in no sense be a determination as to the loyalty of the applicant concerned.” Exec. Or. 10865 § 7. Thus, a decision to deny a security clearance is merely an indication the applicant has not met the strict guidelines the President and the Secretary of Defense have established for issuing a clearance. Initially, the Government must establish, by substantial evidence, conditions in the personal or professional history of the applicant that may disqualify the applicant from being eligible for access to classified information. The Government has the burden of establishing controverted facts alleged in the SOR. See Egan, 484 U.S. at 531. “Substantial evidence” is “more than a scintilla but less than a preponderance.” See v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth., 36 F.3d 375, 380 (4th Cir. 1994). The guidelines presume a nexus or rational connection between proven conduct under any of the criteria listed therein and an applicant’s security suitability. See ISCR Case No. 15-01253 at 3 (App. Bd. Apr. 20, 2016). Once the Government establishes a disqualifying condition by substantial evidence, the burden shifts to the applicant to rebut, explain, extenuate, or mitigate the facts. Directive ¶ E3.1.15. An applicant has the burden of proving a mitigating condition, and the burden of disproving it never shifts to the Government. See ISCR Case No. 02- 31154 at 5 (App. Bd. Sep. 22, 2005).

An applicant “has the ultimate burden of demonstrating that it is clearly consistent with the national interest to grant or continue his security clearance.” ISCR Case No. 01- 20700 at 3 (App. Bd. Dec. 19, 2002). “[S]ecurity clearance determinations should err, if they must, on the side of denials.” Egan, 484 U.S. at 531.

ANALYSIS

Guideline H, Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse The concern under this guideline is set out in AG ¶ 24: The illegal use of controlled substances, to include the misuse of prescription and non-prescription drugs, and the use of other substances that cause physical or mental impairment or are used in a manner inconsistent with their intended purpose can raise questions about an individual’s reliability and trustworthiness, both because such behavior may lead to physical or psychological impairment and because it raises questions about a person’s ability or willingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations. Controlled substance means any “controlled substance” as defined in 21 U.S.C. 802. Substance misuse is the generic term adopted in this guideline to describe any of the behaviors listed above. Applicant’s admissions in his Answer, his Response, and elsewhere in the record are sufficient to raise the following disqualifying condition under this guideline: AG ¶ 25: any substance misuse (see above definition); and (g): expressed intent to continue drug involvement and substance misuse, or failure to clearly and convincingly commit to discontinue such misuse. (a): In October 2014, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) issued a memorandum entitled “Adherence to Federal Laws Prohibiting Marijuana Use,” (2014 DNI Memo) which makes clear that changes in the laws pertaining to marijuana by the various states, territories, and the District of Columbia do not alter the existing National Security Adjudicative Guidelines, and that Federal law supersedes state laws on this issue: [C]hanges to state laws and the laws of the District of Columbia pertaining to marijuana use do not alter the existing National Security Adjudicative Guidelines. . . . An individual’s disregard of federal law pertaining to the use, sale, or manufacture of marijuana remains adjudicatively relevant in national security determinations. As always, adjudicative authorities are expected to evaluate claimed or developed use of, or involvement with, marijuana using the current adjudicative criteria. The adjudicative authority must determine if the use of, or involvement with, marijuana raises questions about the individual’s judgment, reliability, trustworthiness, and willingness to comply with law, rules, and regulations, including federal

laws, when making eligibility decisions of persons proposed for, or occupying, sensitive national security positions. The DOHA Appeal Board has cited the 2014 DNI Memo in holding that “state laws allowing for the legal use of marijuana in some limited circumstances do not pre-empt provisions of the Industrial Security Program, and the Department of Defense is not bound by the status of an applicant’s conduct under state law when adjudicating that individual’s eligibility for access to classified information.” ISCR Case No. 14-03734 at 3-4 (App. Bd. Feb. 18, 2016). The current National Security Adjudicative Guidelines went into effect on June 8, 2017, after 2014 DNI memo was issued. Nevertheless, the principle continues to apply. Moreover, on December 21, 2021, DNI Avril D. Haynes issued a memorandum entitled, “Security Executive Clarifying Guidance Concerning Marijuana for Agencies Conducting Adjudications of Persons Proposed for Eligibility for Access to Classified Information or Eligibility to Hold a Sensitive Position.” (2021 DNI Memo) The memo incorporates the AGs (at reference B) and the 2014 DNI Memo (at reference G) among various other relevant federal laws, executive orders, and memoranda. I take administrative notice of the 2021 DNI memo here, given its relevance to this case, its reliance on the AGs, and its recency. The 2021 DNI memo specifically notes that “under policy set forth in SEAD 4's adjudicative guidelines, the illegal use or misuse of controlled substances can raise security concerns about an individual's reliability and trustworthiness to access classified information or to hold a sensitive position, as well as their ability or willingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations.” Thus, consistent with these references, the AGs indicate that “disregard of federal law pertaining to marijuana remains relevant, but not determinative, to adjudications of eligibility for access to classified information or eligibility to hold a sensitive position.” (2021 DNI Memo)

The following mitigating condition is potentially applicable: AG ¶ 26(b): the individual acknowledges his or her drug involvement and substance misuse, provides evidence of actions taken to overcome this problem, and has established a pattern of abstinence, including but not limited to: (1) disassociation from drug-using associates and contacts; (2) changing or avoiding the environment where drugs were used; and (3) providing a signed statement of intent to abstain from all drug involvement and substance misuse, acknowledging that any future involvement or misuse is grounds for revocation of national security eligibility. AG ¶ 26(b) is not established. Applicant fully acknowledges his drug use and has stated his intent to continue to use marijuana. He has not provided a signed statement of intent to abstain from all drug involvement and substance misuse and acknowledged that any future involvement or misuse is grounds for revocation of national security.

In ISCR Case No. 14-03734 at 3 (App. Bd. Feb. 18, 2016), the DOHA Appeal Board noted that the DNI's 2014 memorandum specifically stated that state laws permitting the use of marijuana “do not alter the existing National Security Adjudicative Guidelines[.]” The Board also observed that “DOHA proceedings are not a proper forum to debate the pros and cons of whether marijuana should be legal for some purposes, how it should be classified as a controlled substance, or the merits of DoD policy concerning drug abuse.” Id. See also ISCR Case No. 16-00258 at fn. 1 (App. Bd. Feb. 23, 2018) (“It merits noting, however, that while several states have decriminalized marijuana or allowed its use for medical or recreational purposes, such use of marijuana remains subject to the applicable disqualifying conditions in the Directive.”)

WHOLE PERSON CONCEPT

Under AG ¶ 2(c), the ultimate determination of whether to grant eligibility for a security clearance must be an overall commonsense judgment based upon careful consideration of the guidelines and the whole-person concept. In applying the whole- person concept, an administrative judge must evaluate an applicant’s eligibility for a security clearance by considering the totality of the applicant’s conduct and all relevant circumstances. An administrative judge should consider the nine adjudicative process factors listed at AG ¶ 2(d): (1) the nature, extent, and seriousness of the conduct; (2) the circumstances surrounding the conduct, to include knowledgeable participation; (3) the frequency and recency of the conduct; (4) the individual’s age and maturity at the time of the conduct; (5) the extent to which participation is voluntary; (6) the presence or absence of rehabilitation and other permanent behavioral changes; (7) the motivation for the conduct; (8) the potential for pressure, coercion, exploitation, or duress; and (9) the likelihood of continuation or recurrence. I have incorporated my comments under Guideline H in my whole-person analysis and applied the adjudicative factors in AG ¶ 2(d). Because he requested a determination on the record without a hearing, I had no opportunity to evaluate his credibility and sincerity based on demeanor. See ISCR Case No. 01-12350 at 3-4 (App. Bd. Jul. 23, 2003). I considered Applicant's admissions and explanations, including his explanation for his medical use of marijuana. Applicant’s position on marijuana was clear concerning his use of medical marijuana and his other reasons for his stated intentions to continue using marijuana, However, marijuana use remains illegal under Federal law and for cleared individuals, so his marijuana involvement and stated intentions of future use are unmitigated security concerns. After weighing the disqualifying and mitigating conditions under Guideline H and evaluating all the evidence in the context of the whole person, I conclude Applicant has not mitigated the security concerns raised by his drug involvement.

FORMAL FINDINGS

I make the following formal findings on the allegations in the SOR: Paragraph 1, Guideline H: AGAINST APPLICANT Against Applicant Subparagraph 1.a:

CONCLUSION

I conclude that it is not clearly consistent with the national security interests of the United States to grant Applicant eligibility for access to classified information. Clearance is denied. Charles C. Hale Administrative Judge