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Hey everyone! I was hoping someone might be able to offer me any advice on if this sounds okay. I was arrested a few years back for possession of marijuana, and then it went down to disorderly conduct, and six months later it was dismissed. In the statement I mention giving up drugs and alcohol--I've been in recovery for three and a half years now and it's something I focused on in my PS, so that's why I mentioned it here as well. And the statement is:

Shortly before my eighteenth birthday, I was arrested for possession of marijuana. While I did not have marijuana on my person, the people whom I was associating with at the time did, and accordingly, I was charged with the same offense as they were. The case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal and dismissed after six months. The experience acted as a catalyst for my recognizing that I needed to change my life and the people with whom I associated; shortly after that arrest, I made a promise to myself that I would follow through with this change, and I gave up all drugs and alcohol completely.

I would make this even briefer, and I certainly wouldn’t admit to anything I wasn’t convicted of. I would basically say “ I hung out with some losers that had some weed, but I didn’t have any and I was cleared of this.” (worded better ofcourse) I haven’t read you PS so maybe what you said wouldn’t be too bad for you. Either way, if this is your only c&f issue, I think you’re going to be ok, especially since you were a minor when it occurred.

Thank you so much for the help! That's what I wasn't sure about, because on the one hand, I admit in my PS to having had a problem in the past, so being arrested for pot in a way confirms that "that's where I was then, this is where I am now," kind of thing, but on the other hand, I didn't have anything on me, so the arrest really was unjust. Yeah, I kind of felt like I could be contradicting myself in saying "I didn't have anything," and "but now I'm clean!" because on any other day, it's likely that I would have had something on me.

Also, if I could ask another question, do you think possession of marijuana or disorderly conduct sounds worse? Because I think I could really say either, since it was dropped down to disorderly conduct, but I wasn't sure which sounded worse.

Thank you again!!

I would be careful about this. If the original arrest charges were possession, even if the charge was lowered, it may be on file somewhere ((?) You should find the answer to this) in which case I would still disclose the possession charge. You wouldn't want anyone to think you're misleading.

When in doubt, disclose it. Schools aren't gonna trip about it anyways (especially if it's in your PS).