{"id":4306,"date":"2022-02-17T16:50:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T16:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenentrepreneur.com\/article\/418519"},"modified":"2022-02-17T16:50:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T16:50:00","slug":"u-s-intellgence-workers-get-national-security-clearance-but-not-cannabis-clearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=4306","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Intellgence Workers Get National Security Clearance, But Not Cannabis Clearance"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur<\/em> contributors are their own. <\/p>\n

\n

At a time when employees are fighting for the right to use medical marijuana and recreational marijuana during their off-hours, there\u2019s one area of employment that hasn\u2019t changed: jobs with the nation\u2019s intelligence agencies that require a security clearance. These agencies view the current use of marijuana\u2014or, in some cases, even past use of marijuana\u2014as reasons to disqualify people from holding a security clearance.<\/p>\n

The policy applies even if people work in a state where marijuana is legalized for recreational and medical use\u2014or in Washington DC, which has legalized both.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/b>Legalized Cannabis Has Changed the American Workplace<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

No cannabis clearance for those with national security clearance<\/b><\/h2>\n

In an unclassified memo<\/a> released in late 2021, Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, directly addressed the use of illegal drugs for those who have clearance to know our nation\u2019s secrets. Or, at least, some of our nation\u2019s secrets. There are three levels of security clearance: confidential, secret, and top secret. There\u2019s also a separate category called Specialized Compartmented Information (SCI).<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t hold any level of clearance if you use marijuana. In his memo, Haines encouraged all agencies to \u201cremind civilian, military and contractor personnel\u201d who are granted access to classified information about the use of drugs that are illegal under federal law.<\/p>\n

Marijuana remains a Schedule I illegal drug at the federal level. In his memo, Haines touched on some other concerns, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe illegal use or misuse of controlled substances can raise security concerns about an individual’s reliability and trustworthiness to access classified information or to hold a sensitive position, as well as their ability or willingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations,\u201d he wrote. \u201cDrug involvement may raise similar concerns about personal and criminal conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: <\/b>Canada Leads the Way on Cannabis And Mental Health in the Workplace<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Even past use is an issue<\/b><\/h2>\n

In his memo, Haines also writes that past use of marijuana may be “relevant” to determine if someone is security clearance material but not “determinative.” Among the factors considered are the frequency of use and “whether the individual can demonstrate that future use is unlikely to recur, including by signing an attestation or other such appropriate mitigation,” Haines wrote.<\/p>\n

In reviewing the memo and the issue of marijuana, Government Executive put<\/a> it plainly: “Anyone who indicates an intent to continue using illegal drugs in the future – including marijuana – will be disqualified from holding a security clearance.”<\/p>\n

The ban on using marijuana also extends to hemp-derived CBD products. The U.S. Congress made hemp products legal if they contain less than 0.3 percent THC, the chemical ingredient in cannabis that causes the high. However, the position of the national intelligence community is that some products may contain more than 0.3 percent, making them illegal for use, as well.<\/p>\n

Additionally, those who aspire to security clearance jobs shouldn’t invest in stocks or business ventures that pertain to marijuana growers and retailers. According to Government Executive, those doing so could find that their “adjudicative determination may be negatively impacted.”<\/p>\n

The website Clearinghouse Jobs reports<\/a> that the Department of Defense also is cracking down on employees and contractors who use marijuana if they formerly had a security clearance that is no longer active.<\/p>\n

The website reports that they are doing so under the theory that applicants knew during security briefings in the years before that marijuana use is still federally illegal. They added: “This new hardline stance, which boils down to “you should have known better,” is a curious approach at a time when both societal norms and the Biden Administration seem to be moving in the opposite direction.”<\/p>\n

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana-related news, make sure to like <\/i>dispensaries.com<\/i><\/b><\/a> on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. At a time when employees are fighting for the right to use medical marijuana and recreational marijuana during their off-hours, there\u2019s one area of employment that hasn\u2019t changed: jobs with the nation\u2019s intelligence agencies that require a security clearance. These agencies view the current use of marijuana\u2014or, in some cases, even past use of marijuana\u2014as reasons to disqualify people from holding a security clearance. The policy applies even if people work in a state where marijuana is legalized for recreational and medical use\u2014or in Washington DC, which has legalized both. Related: Legalized Cannabis… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}