Drug policies aren’t just murky when it comes to marijuana. A ClearanceJobs visitor recently asked for clarification around Guideline H and if misusing a prescribed medication like Aleve or ibuprofen could be a clearance issue. Guideline H states: “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.”
The question was – what if you’ve ‘misused’ a prescription drug, but it’s not actually a controlled substance?
Clearance holders can get in trouble for two aspects of the form – over-interpreting, and under interpreting. Personalities come into play – some individuals are simply more likely to see their own behavior in a negative light. Others can be doing things beyond the pale and not seem to grasp that those behaviors are an issue. In this case, the questioner latched onto the two aspects of the question that are most relevant – ‘controlled substance’ and ‘misuse.’
There are a number of drugs that come in both prescription and non-prescription dosages. If you take one 800 mg ibuprofen that wasn’t prescribed to you, or four 200 mg pills that you purchased yourself at CVS – you’re probably not the individual the government is talking to here. Likewise, you may have a perfectly prescribed medication but be misusing it or using it in a way that would fall within the adjudicative guideline.
A good question to ask yourself is – would an outsider considering this use of a medication deem it appropriate? Is it something that affects your work or job? Most relevant – are you doing anything illegal? (That includes using marijuana, which remains illegal at the federal level).
As a general rule, of you’ve ‘misused’ a medication, even in an innocuous way, but it’s something that could otherwise come up in an investigation (maybe you have a habit of procuring ‘prescription’ medications from a coworker) – it’s better to report than not. If you’ve simply borrowed an Aleve that happened to be a prescription and not from your local Target – you’re probably fine.
