Senate votes to let people who’ve used marijuana work at intelligence agencies

I remember when I was in the Navy, running a nuclear power plant on a ship that carried nuclear weapons, and the Chief of the Boat regularly showed up to work so drunk he couldn&#x27;t speak (having driven himself to work) and everyone ignored it and when juniors complained seniors threatened to fabricate charges against them to shut them up, and listening to that guy scream and yell about how anyone who smokes cannabis is a fucking loser, a total garbage piece of shit, not even a real human being, and genuinely having difficulty not laughing and&#x2F;or screaming. What a fucking joke that place was.<p>Friends in the intelligence community have told me they have as many extreme, extreme alcoholics as the Navy does, and that&#x27;s just fine, part of the &quot;culture&quot;, but oh boy, cannabis is not acceptable. Not sure if it was always like that, or just recently because they have recruiting problems.<p>I also have friends at national labs watching this very enthusiastically, hoping it spills over to their sector, because they have difficulty recruiting PhDs who are willing to get randomly piss tested.

Marijuana (along with multi-lingualism) is a big reason why the Mormon-American community is significantly over-represented in the US intelligence community.

You could already get a clearance with past marijuana use (and other drugs) but I guess this would just make it so someone couldn&#x27;t be denied a clearance solely for that reason.

Or... just decriminalize it altogether, including forgiveness of past use.

I&#x27;m assuming this is only because it&#x27;s getting harder and harder to find qualified people and adding on unreasonable constraints is only making the situation worse.

I’ve talked to a lawyer who does govt clearances, and the reality is that clearances are rarely denied for past use of marijuana. Especially if a year or two has passed since last use. Lying during the investigation about your drug use is what will get you denied. Unless the bill allows people use marijuana while holding a clearance, this changes almost nothing IMO.

There&#x27;s probably a heckuva natural experiment enabled by this change. By surveying pot usage and comparing it with earlier responses during lie detector exams, it may be possible to tease out about how many people were confident they could consistently beat the polygraph (probably because they knew or suspected polygraphs don&#x27;t work).<p>It could generate more data to finally help prove that polygraphs, which largely rely on subjects believing they work, are pointless because so many people already know they don&#x27;t.

What if I still do it though? I would seriously consider applying if they could just ignore my usage entirely.<p>Anyways, good on them for a step in the right direction.

I applied to the CIA in college. I had a great chat with the recruiter and he told me to apply online and come in for an interview the following morning.<p>I filled out the app and they asked &quot;How many times have you consumed marijuana in the past year?&quot; I answered honestly, &quot;150 times&quot;.<p>They did not call me back.

Marijuana use was mostly OK until Reagan came in. Then DISCO announced a policy change.

If the government actually fired all their subcontractors and clearanced employees with a weed pen in their desk they&#x27;d have almost nobody left. I can&#x27;t help but feel like worker shortage is why they&#x27;re doing this.

The primary purpose of the CIA is to maintain a continuous pipeline of endless wars to fuel the military industrial complex. All other goals are secondary. This has been true since the CIA and LBJ assassinated John F Kennedy in a coup to overthrow the US government.

Such a bizarre time in the US, just today folks I grew up with were raided by helicopter&#x2F;dogs&#x2F;cops on dirt bikes for growing personal use marijuana in their own home (8 plants). Meanwhile everyone knows marijuana crimes are a complete joke.

Frankly, I&#x27;d have to be high to accept a job in the intelligence community. I was recruited once in college, got a bad feeling and never regretted it for a second.<p>Democracies shouldn&#x27;t have giant unaccountable spy orgs.

how can they detect that someone &quot;used marijuana&quot; once long time ago ?

i&#x27;m just curious what this means for all of us that lied about it, got cleared, and now don&#x27;t have to lie about it...

Great to see the government tackling those thorny, nuanced problems that threaten the livelihood, security, and future prospects of the average citizen.

time have demonstrated that people working at Intelligence Agencies, lacks of Intelligence, so i don&#x27;t get the point to avoid or not to avoid maryjane

Dude, no way!

Let me be the first to welcome people with more diverse substance abuse problems to our beloved secret police. My greatest regret is that I can only declare a mere hour of applause for their great personal sacrifices and worthily earned pensions.<p>Tbh, I kind of liked the idea that decriminalization and liberal attitudes were starving them for talent.

Yeah, cause those are the people we want most paranoid?!