mikejeff

Original poster here. Some interesting discussion above. However, let me return to the original question. All I've got is a misdemeanor that's been sealed. I'll be honest about. I smoked some pot during college and tried a few other things a few times. I'd be honest about that too. A very smart and able friend with a similar background was disqualified from being a firefighter for these reasons. I know another guy who wanted to be a police officer who's a smart badass who couldn't be a cop because he was beyond the limit of # of times (10) of trying marijuana. Again, I haven't touched anything in years. I'm not gay, but our country has kicked a number of gay linguists who studied Arabic despite our dire need for people who speak the language because of bureaucratic nonsense. Not that I equate my past wrongdoings with being gay. Sorry - I know that reads bad. Clinton smoked pot. Bush snorted coke. Cheney has multiple DWIs. Our probable next president, in my view Barack Obama, did coke. I plan on being a paramedic for years before going to PA or med school. Will I have a problem getting a city-based paramedic job?

I've got no criminal stuff other than an MIP that was adjudicated (sp?) - which I would still of course disclose. I've got a college degree, stable work history, etc. My main reason for posting this is I have a buddy who, after a short pro athletic career and an Ivy League degree, decided he wanted to be a firefighter. But in school he'd smoked pot occasionally and tried a few harded drugs. No criminal record. He was honest, but they bounced him during the interview stages because of the (not recent) drug use. Bureaucratic rules required it. I do not want to be a firefighter. But I know that a lot of the paramedic jobs are tied to fire departments, and I just want to be aware if I'll be limited in options in terms of employment. Thanks for the replies.

I'm starting an EMT-B course next month. A lot of the paramedic jobs tend to be within fire departments. I know firefighter positions require a pretty clean background (maybe a smoke-pot allowance of 5x). I haven't touched anything in a few years, but when I was in college, I was in college, if you know what I mean.