Hmmm, so I may or may not have smoked a fair amount of MJ with folks that have security clearances. I can neither confirm nor deny…. :Smokey:
http://www.marijuana.com/news/2015/04/congress-weighs-marijuana-bans-impact-on-cybercrime-fight
Marijuana’s restricted status under federal law may be harming the U.S. government’s ability to effectively prevent cybercrime, according to a new measure that a key Congressional panel is set to consider on Tuesday.
Democrats Gerry Connolly (VA) and Earl Blumenauer (OR) want the House Rules Committee to approve an amendment that would direct the nation’s top spy to prepare a report "examining how the ability of the Federal Government and private entities to recruit talented cybersecurity professionals is impacted by" marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug.
Last May, FBI Director James Comey made headlines by insinuating that his agency’s anti-marijuana policies meant he couldn’t hire otherwise qualified hackers to defend the nation’s electronic assets.
“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview," Comey said. Agency rules prevent anyone who has used marijuana within the past three years from being considered for a job.
The new amendment, which Connolly and Blumenauer are seeking to attach to either the Protecting Cyber Networks Act or the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act, specifically seeks to explore the impact of restrictions on granting security clearances to people who use marijuana.
If it is approved, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper would have 180 days to submit a report on how marijuana’s classification harms the government’s ability to "prevent, mitigate, or address cybersecurity threats."
Last October, Clapper sent a memo to the heads of many federal agencies reminding them that despite the growing number of states passing laws allowing marijuana use, the drug remains illegal under federal law. "Agencies continue to be prohibited from granting or renewing a security clearance to an unlawful user of a controlled substance, which includes marijuana," he wrote.
Clapper cited a Reagan-era executive order which "expressly states that use of illegal drugs on or off duty by federal employees in positions with access to sensitive information may pose a serious risk to national security and is inconsistent with the trust placed in such employees as servants of the public."
If the Connolly/Blumenauer amendment is adopted, key national security agencies may have to compile data on how many people applied for jobs but were disqualified solely because of their marijuana use.
In a time when U.S. officials are increasingly worried about cyberattacks on public and private infrastructure, that data, if damning enough, could spur changes to federal hiring policies that deny jobs to otherwise qualified people.
Gotta love the hypocrisy the feds exhibit. The current head of the DEA is getting booted because of some drunk DEA assholes that were attending hooker parties hosted by drug cartels (what could go wrong there?), but they’re more worried about some patriotic geeks with skills that like to burn a little ganja from time to time. Of course, the feds have pissed Americans off so much by now that most of them would never consider working for them anyway. How did we ever get so corrupt and stupid… :snoop: