FBI Loosens Policy on Drug Use
To ease the hiring of special agents and analysts to fill remaining job vacancies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly has amended its policies, for security clearance and polygraph purposes, relating to the use of marijuana.
The change may already or soon apply to other federal agencies as well.
The FBI is only the latest law enforcement agency to amend its policies on past marijuana use. Increasing numbers of departments are reporting problems with applicants being excluded over past pot-smoking, and [are] loosening their standards. Even the drug czar’s office understands…
“Increasingly, the goal for the screening of security clearance applicants is whether you are a current drug user, rather than whether you used in the past,” said Tom Riley, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “It’s not whether you have smoked pot four times or 16 times 20 years ago. It’s about whether you smoked last week and lied about it.”
See also this USA Today report.
Filed Under: Reform, Adjudication, Adverse Actions
This clearly is not a change in security clearance policy, but rather a change in hiring policy for certain positions at the FBI.
The goal of screening or investigating security clearance applicants is to gather relevant information about current and past conduct.
It’s the goal of clearance adjudicators to determine if the applicant should receive a clearance based on a properly completed investigation.
Past low-level, recreational use of marijuana and some other drugs has not been an automatic disqualifier for a security clearance in over 20 years.
Posted by on Aug 13, 2007 at 02:19AM