Issue Encyclopedia · Guideline H · Drug Involvement
Stated Intent to Use Again
Does stated intent to use again affect a security clearance?
Basis: 497 decided hearing-level cases raising this issue. Descriptive history of decided cases, not a prediction.
Decided cases
497
hearing-level decisions raising this issue
Granted
15%
75 granted · 422 denied or revoked
Official mitigating conditions cited
| Condition | In granted cases | In denied cases |
|---|---|---|
| ¶ 26(b) · The involvement acknowledged, with abstinence established | 25 | 7 |
| ¶ 26(a) · So long ago, or so infrequent, that it is unlikely to recur | 21 | 8 |
| ¶ 26(c) · Prescription misuse followed a prolonged illness and has ended | 16 | 9 |
¶ 26(b) · The involvement acknowledged, with abstinence established
- In granted cases
- 25
- In denied cases
- 7
¶ 26(a) · So long ago, or so infrequent, that it is unlikely to recur
- In granted cases
- 21
- In denied cases
- 8
¶ 26(c) · Prescription misuse followed a prolonged illness and has ended
- In granted cases
- 16
- In denied cases
- 9
Circumstances credited in granted cases
- abstinence period documented · credited in 2 granted cases
- acknowledgment and remorse · credited in 1 granted case
- signed intent with revocation clause · credited in 1 granted case
- substance treatment completed · credited in 1 granted case
Recent decided examples
The applicant, a 51-year-old retired Army major, was granted eligibility for a security clearance after mitigating concerns related to drug involvement. He admitted to using marijuana for pain managem…
Applicant, a 40-year-old president and CEO of a family maritime business, was granted a clearance after the judge found he mitigated Guideline H concerns. He admitted long-term marijuana use and purch…
The case involves security concerns under Guideline H (Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse) and Guideline E (Personal Conduct). The applicant admitted to using psilocybin mushrooms in June 2024 but …
Applicant, a 27-year-old defense contractor employee, was denied eligibility for a security clearance. He admitted monthly marijuana use from January 2022 to September 2025, a 2022 arrest for drug par…
Related issues under Guideline H
- Marijuana (3,224)
- Unspecified Drug Involvement (1,590)
- Cocaine (714)
- Drug Distribution / Dealing (520)
- Drug Test Failure (376)
- Psilocybin / Hallucinogenic Mushrooms (342)
How these numbers are measured
Scope: decided hearing-level cases whose per-allegation profile records this issue, matched to the same issue value the search filters use, so a count here and a filtered search always agree. A case raising several issues counts under each one. The mitigating conditions and the credited circumstances below were extracted for a subset of the record, so both are counts of cases rather than rates. Pages exist only for issues with at least 25 decided cases, and † marks any split built on fewer than 20.
Reading the statistics
- Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
- Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
- † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
- Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
- Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.
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