Marijuana Possession citation and applying for OCS

[mcwisconsin]

I apologize for another marijuana post - but I'm getting confused by conflicting information from my officer recruiter and this website/reddit.

I have some questions regarding marijuana use and a possession charge, and whether or not I would need a waiver for them. For context, I'm applying for SNA and NFO for the October 31 board.
The possession charge was in the fall of 2018 for a relatively small amount of marijuana. I got the citation reduced to disorderly conduct (it was only a citation, never a misdemeanour). I have not touched the stuff since the incident.
A few months ago I reached out to an officer recruiter and started working on my packet. I disclosed my marijuana use and possession ticket to him, and I decided it was best to disclose it on the security clearance since it was likely going to be found (It would've been stupid not to). I went to MEPS today and the Navy rep who signed off on my security clearance forms confirmed the possession charge, but didn't mention anything about a waiver. My OR is saying I may not need a waiver for this.
Is this true? I'm a little confused on how moral/legal waivers work - is that something that should've been done at MEPS, or does my recruiter have to initiate it? Or is he right in the sense that I may not need a waiver at all? He isn't explaining to me why that might be the case. The reason why I'm so worried about this is because I've read that legal waivers can take weeks to months to get approved, and I would ideally have my packet submitted before the end of July
Thanks.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I apologize for another marijuana post - but I'm getting confused by conflicting information from my officer recruiter and this website/reddit.

I have some questions regarding marijuana use and a possession charge, and whether or not I would need a waiver for them. For context, I'm applying for SNA and NFO for the October 31 board.
The possession charge was in the fall of 2018 for a relatively small amount of marijuana. I got the citation reduced to disorderly conduct (it was only a citation, never a misdemeanour). I have not touched the stuff since the incident.
A few months ago I reached out to an officer recruiter and started working on my packet. I disclosed my marijuana use and possession ticket to him, and I decided it was best to disclose it on the security clearance since it was likely going to be found (It would've been stupid not to). I went to MEPS today and the Navy rep who signed off on my security clearance forms confirmed the possession charge, but didn't mention anything about a waiver. My OR is saying I may not need a waiver for this.
Is this true? I'm a little confused on how moral/legal waivers work - is that something that should've been done at MEPS, or does my recruiter have to initiate it? Or is he right in the sense that I may not need a waiver at all? He isn't explaining to me why that might be the case. The reason why I'm so worried about this is because I've read that legal waivers can take weeks to months to get approved, and I would ideally have my packet submitted before the end of July
Thanks.

For officer applicants... the only thing MEPS does for you is a physical exam. They don't handle any sort waivers like the enlisted side.

For officer recruiting, there's a manual/instruction that recruiters use to determine if a charge requires a waiver or not. It's been a few years for me, so I can't personally confirm/not confirm if you need a waiver. However, it appears the OR already did that and provided you an answer...

 

[404 Error Not Found]

I would trust what your recruiter said and try not to worry about it too much. Maybe circle back in a week or two if you haven't heard anything to see if they had the chance to look it up and get a more definitive answer. Aside from that there really isn't much else you can do but wait patiently anyway (you will be doing a lot of that regardless).

 

[zschaub]

I apologize for another marijuana post - but I'm getting confused by conflicting information from my officer recruiter and this website/reddit.

I have some questions regarding marijuana use and a possession charge, and whether or not I would need a waiver for them. For context, I'm applying for SNA and NFO for the October 31 board.
The possession charge was in the fall of 2018 for a relatively small amount of marijuana. I got the citation reduced to disorderly conduct (it was only a citation, never a misdemeanour). I have not touched the stuff since the incident.
A few months ago I reached out to an officer recruiter and started working on my packet. I disclosed my marijuana use and possession ticket to him, and I decided it was best to disclose it on the security clearance since it was likely going to be found (It would've been stupid not to). I went to MEPS today and the Navy rep who signed off on my security clearance forms confirmed the possession charge, but didn't mention anything about a waiver. My OR is saying I may not need a waiver for this.
Is this true? I'm a little confused on how moral/legal waivers work - is that something that should've been done at MEPS, or does my recruiter have to initiate it? Or is he right in the sense that I may not need a waiver at all? He isn't explaining to me why that might be the case. The reason why I'm so worried about this is because I've read that legal waivers can take weeks to months to get approved, and I would ideally have my packet submitted before the end of July
Thanks.

Unfortunately I do have anything to offer as far as legal concerns are considered in an OCS package. I graduated OCS in Feb 22 but I'm not in the aviation community. All I can offer is my personal knowledge.

It was definitely the right thing to do to disclose that information to the Navy. As another person in this thread has correctly stated, MEPS will not answer your question.

To my knowledge your waiver will be submitted along with your package to an OCS board so you probably won't know if that was the reason you get denied, if you do get denied.

Perhaps you will hear sooner about your waiver I cannot say for sure but your recruiter would be your best POC for that information so I would hound them on a weekly basis about it.

The hard truth, to my knowledge, is the aviation community is very strict about drug and even medication use. Your dilemma is very minor but they've turned people down within a week of arriving at OCS for, in my opinion, very minor medical issues.

No news is the best news. My advice, submit your package and wait. If your ATSB scores along with your college transcript are competitive you stand a good chance to getting selected.

Again I'm not an aviator so take what I've said for what it is.

Best of luck.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

The hard truth, to my knowledge, is the aviation community is very strict about drug and even medication use. Your dilemma is very minor but they've turned people down within a week of arriving at OCS for, in my opinion, very minor medical issues.

The interesting thing is not too long ago there were people picked up for aviation that had DUI's, admitted cocaine experimentation, MJ use, and other issues. They finally fell in line with the rest of the designators.

 

[HSMPBR]

The interesting thing is not too long ago there were people picked up for aviation that had DUI's, admitted cocaine experimentation, MJ use, and other issues. They finally fell in line with the rest of the designators.

Yeah, and now aviation is full of no-fun nerds.

 

[zschaub]

The interesting thing is not too long ago there were people picked up for aviation that had DUI's, admitted cocaine experimentation, MJ use, and other issues. They finally fell in line with the rest of the designators.

Very Interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about that personally but sounds like hopeful news for mcwisconsin