I recently called my local recruiter to see about possibly going into active duty for the coast guard. I told them that I had done drugs before in my life, and had done(smoked marijuana) 10-15 times(this is the only drug I have done). Will this have an effect on me towards getting into the coast guard, and if it does, what might it be? Also, they told me to call back 5-6 months after the last time I had done drugs so my system is cleared out. It just kind of had me stressed, and I would like to not have to worry about what is going to happen. Thanks preemptively for your help!

They're giving you the advice to give the best shot at joining. It will take a few months to get the traces out of your system. Even if you show up clean on a urinalysis, you can still pop for the blood test. That's why they want you to wait. If you were a heavy smoker then you might want to wait a bit longer.

There's no underlying motive by the recruiter here other than giving you a good chance for a clean sample.

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You're welcome. Remember to disclose the past use on any forms you fill out in the future. Your integrity is at stake, a potentially disqualifying factor if you were to attempt to deceive. The major issue is to clean out your system.

Good luck.

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