Marijuana Mistake

[Anonythemouse 0]

I am worrying that I may have screwed up my future with my spouse. I was a recreational marijuana user while living in a terrible situation where everyone else was, but I quit when I left that locale. I have been clean for six months and have no desire whatsoever to consume marijuana in the future. We have not yet sent in our forms and I know that it will take probably a year to get to the medical and interview stage. I am Canadian.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the chances of a 1 year ban? Anything at all? I just want to be with my spouse.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Read this about the medical exam in Canada.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/442101-k-1-visa-medical-exam-and-past-drug-use/?p=6377632

Maybe you could do some sort of rehab like program, proving that you are clean?

[Brit Abroad 166]

I like the idea above, but I would start with the basics. Young people make misakes, that's the way they learn.

Write up your history and explain when you stopped doing marijuana. Go to your doctor and get a hair screening and blood screening to confirm no drug use in the last six month period and ask them to put it in writing to submit with your application.

You will, no doubt, be asked questions about it at the medical and interview stage, but provided you are honest and the evidence supports your statement, I don't think it's a big a deal as lying about drug use and being caught out in that lie.

Good luck with your application.

[Novembro 1,763]

Can you just fail to mention that you smoked weed for a short period of time?

[Anonythemouse 0]

Can you just fail to mention that you smoked weed for a short period of time?

But what if they ask directly? And my physician knows. What if when I get my medical records to hand over for the medical, it's on there? She SAYS that unless she's directly asked about any history of drug use, my medical records will just say 'no current drug use' but I've never actually gotten physical medical records from anywhere, so I don't know if that's true or not?

[Novembro 1,763]

But what if they ask directly? And my physician knows. What if when I get my medical records to hand over for the medical, it's on there? She SAYS that unless she's directly asked about any history of drug use, my medical records will just say 'no current drug use' but I've never actually gotten physical medical records from anywhere, so I don't know if that's true or not?

You should be able to obtain copies of your medical records at any point in time. You can see what's on there. A year or so ago, when I started care with a new gp, I was a bit more revealing about a certain piece of my medical history than I intended. During my next visit, I asked if that could be removed from my record as it wasn't something that had any bearing on my health and wellness anymore. I don't think that would work in your case, but you never know.

Definitely obtain your medical records and see what you're dealing with. I wasn't aware that "visa doctors" had any dealings with GPs (at least I know they didn't when The Husband went through the process). You might be in the clear. And if you are, I personally would not feel bad about omitting that bit of information.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Novembro

[Avery Cates 1,141]

I am worrying that I may have screwed up my future with my spouse. I was a recreational marijuana user while living in a terrible situation where everyone else was, but I quit when I left that locale. I have been clean for six months and have no desire whatsoever to consume marijuana in the future. We have not yet sent in our forms and I know that it will take probably a year to get to the medical and interview stage. I am Canadian.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the chances of a 1 year ban? Anything at all? I just want to be with my spouse.

If they don't ask, don't tell for starters.

[gwenstar 66]

I like the idea above, but I would start with the basics. Young people make misakes, that's the way they learn.

Write up your history and explain when you stopped doing marijuana. Go to your doctor and get a hair screening and blood screening to confirm no drug use in the last six month period and ask them to put it in writing to submit with your application.

You will, no doubt, be asked questions about it at the medical and interview stage, but provided you are honest and the evidence supports your statement, I don't think it's a big a deal as lying about drug use and being caught out in that lie.

Good luck with your application.

I second this

[Ryan H 3,900]

One post violating the TOS removed.

[Anonythemouse 0]

I like the idea above, but I would start with the basics. Young people make misakes, that's the way they learn.

Write up your history and explain when you stopped doing marijuana. Go to your doctor and get a hair screening and blood screening to confirm no drug use in the last six month period and ask them to put it in writing to submit with your application.

You will, no doubt, be asked questions about it at the medical and interview stage, but provided you are honest and the evidence supports your statement, I don't think it's a big a deal as lying about drug use and being caught out in that lie.

Good luck with your application.

If they don't ask, don't tell for starters.

And now you see the debate that I am having. On the one hand, I could be very proactive and do as the first person says. On the other, I can do what the second person says.

But if I am proactive, I could be refused instantly and therefore be screwed. But if I play the don't ask, don't tell and they ask, then I get a one year ban.

I guess a secondary question is 'how does the one year ban work?' So, do I have to undergo some kind of treatment and provide proof when I reapply? Or do I end up in AP for one year while I complete some kind of treatment, provide proof that I'm clean and then do a new medical and interview?

I think that would help me decide whether to be extremely proactive or to play the 'don't ask, don't tell' card. I am not an addict. I have no addiction issues. I was just extremely poor so had no resources to move, had just walked away from my family due to their abuse and was living in a situation I felt helpless to escape (my spouse and I could not have done immigration at that time so we could be together because of DOMA, so I was trapped away from my spouse as well) where I felt like participating in the toxic culture of the home I was trapped in by my poverty was the only way to keep myself safe and sane. I had been a victim of many kinds of abuse for decades at this point and was only just finding my ability to stand on my own two feet--perhaps you will have no sympathy, but it is hard to find your own self-worth when you have always been told you have none. Eventually, after managing to get myself in with a good therapist, I chose homelessness over that toxic household culture and walked away from the drugs and the way I was being treated. I now live in a safe place, have a good job and have turned myself around. The fact that I was able to walk away from the drugs overnight and have had no desire to go back to that, even through homelessness, proves to me that I am not a longterm risk for drug abuse or addiction. I don't even drink and have never been a heavy drinker.

I am just so terrified that I have ruined my future with my spouse, a future that, until last summer, was not even a possibility for me, as my spouse's career means that my spouse cannot choose where my spouse lives and works. I don't mean to play the pity card, but I am very scared and worried about this. My spouse knows about my history and understands and knows that I have no issues of addiction at all. I have never hidden my drug use from my spouse or anything like that.

[Brit Abroad 166]

Yes, you could completely avoid the subject and not bring it up. However, do you want to worry about being asked and not having it covered? Are the kind of person who will spend a lot of time worrying about being caught out and look guilty lying?

To me, it's not worth it. If you have nothing to hide then the truth is always the best option.

Do you think the civil surgeons are stupid and inexperienced in human failings? Do you think USCIS expects every applicant to be lily white and perfect? Of course they don't. Humans are human, they make mistakes, especially trying things out when they are young. Most young people have tried drugs of one variety or another while they are in high school or college.

As a 20-year old I was treated for depression. I was over 40 when I went for my medical. I was asked if I had ever been treated for depression, or self harmed. I said yes, I had been on a course of anti-depressants but had never self-harmed. The civil surgeon then told me she would need confirmation from my regular doctor. It took 10 days for them to get the letter back from my GP stating what I had already told the civil surgeon.

Did it affect my application in any other way? No. Life happens. Anyone who thinks that there is a single person out there with a perfect, untouched life is deluded, and the average person working in immigration isn't looking to penalise you for having lived and made mistakes. They are there to weed out those who want to use an American citizen for immigration purposes rather than the validity of the relationship and try and stop people with terrorist intent from sneaking in through vulnerable people, as well as preventing drug dealers and those with criminal intent from entering the US.

When you stop and think about what their intent is, you can see that it isn't designed to trick you into lying your way through the process.

Sure, if you aren't asked you have no need to lie, but what if you are? Are you prepared for that? Will you have the necessary paperwork on hand to present? How would you feel if you were the civil surgeon and were presented with paperwork for a past that hadn't been answered correctly on the application? Would you wonder what else they were hiding?

Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy. You're clean now, right? Six months of clean that can be verified by a professional medic and lab tests, with a real life story of what got you into drugs in the first place. What is there to lie about?