Smoking Weed Will Not be an Automatic Disqualifier for IC Jobs
The Senate Intelligence Committee approved a provision for the 2023 Intelligence Authorization Act that will amend current language regarding past marijuana use which is a disqualifier for some federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, and a few others. This follows a similar trend in policy shifts published by the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who both have issued guidance memorandums stating past marijuana use should not in and of itself be a disqualifier for federal jobs or security clearance eligibility.
The impetus for this shift in policy is quite simple; federal agencies need to find and attract younger people with the skills and talent needed to fill critical intelligence positions. Many applicants are scared away from applying for a job that requires a security clearance because they think they will be denied eligibility for smoking a bunch of weed in college or early adulthood. The hope is that by making this change it will entice more applicants to apply for national security jobs. However, for those that want to continue with using cannabis products, take note of the key word in all policy guidance which is “past” use. For now, if a person wants to get a security clearance, they must cease all use. A proposed way to monitor if a clearance applicant or holder is a current user would be through drug testing and continuous monitoring.
Actually “past marijuana use” has not been an automatic DQ for some time now so I don’t know what the big deal is. I think the key point is RECENT use, and I’m also curious to see if federal law enforcement will relax their standards any further.
Well I know from the investigator side of things we have to deal with it differently if the use was with the last year. Same questions have to be asked, but different work on our side if that makes sense.
Hi, just wondering if you could elaborate further on that. You ask the same questions, but have to do different paperwork or you have to put extra consideration into recent use? If you can’t elaborate further, I totally understand lol
All I will say is the more recent the use the bigger the issue.
Used to be there was also a distinction between infrequent use and habitual use. But now that some people live in states where it is either completely legal or it is easy to get one of these “medical” cards I wonder if even that will change.
And of course I’m talking about use prior to employment with the feds, that is still off limits.
It’s good that the IC is finally revising its often-inconsistent policies with respect to marijuana usage!