PSH-24-0163 - In the Matter of Personnel Security Hearing

On December 13, 2024, an Administrative Judge determined that the Individual's access authorization should not be granted under 10 C.F.R. Part 710. In February 2019, the Individual completed a Questionnaire for Security Positions (QNSP), on which he denied illegal drug use. He was granted an interim security clearance, in connection with summer employment. On a July 2023 QNSP the Individual also denied illegal drug use. The Local Security Office (LSO) determined that during a previous background investigation, an OPM investigator discovered that the Individual used marijuana weekly from October 2018 to November 2018 and at least one time in November 2019. The LSO issued a Letter of Interrogatory (LOI) in which the Individual admitted to using marijuana from 2014 until the fall of 2021. He also reported using psilocybin twice. At the hearing, the Individual stated that his marijuana use occurred while he was in high school and college in social settings. He said he used marijuana to relax and fit in with his friends. He stated that his first use of psilocybin occurred in May of 2021, which he was with a friend. He used it again in November of 2023, after having been employed with a DOE contractor and while waiting for his security clearance. He claimed he was frustrated by the security clearance process and did not think DOE would find out. The Administrative Judge found that the Individual did not bar the DOE from granted the Individual a security clearance, because he does not meet the DOE's definition of an "unlawful user" or and "addict." However, the Administrative Judge also determined that the Individual did not mitigate the concerns raised under Guidelines E, H, or J. (OHA Case No. PSH-24-0163, Fishman)