> > From: "Kay Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 09:47:37 -0400 > To: "MTWT" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [cia-drugs] CNN - FBI MAY RELAX HIRING POLICY ON DRUG USE > > Monday, October 10, 2005 11:56 AM > > FBI may relax hiring policy on drug use > > > WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI, famous for its straight-laced crime-fighting > image, is considering whether to relax its hiring rules over how often > applicants could have used marijuana or other illegal drugs earlier in life. > > Some senior FBI managers have been deeply frustrated that they could not hire > applicants who acknowledged occasional marijuana use in college, but in some > cases already perform top-secret work at other government agencies, such as > the CIA or State Department. > > FBI Director Robert Mueller will make the final decision. > > "We can't say when or if this is going to happen, but we are exploring the > possibility," spokesman Stephen Kodak said. > > The change would ease limits about how often -- and how many years ago -- > applicants for jobs such as intelligence analysts, linguists, computer > specialists, accountants and others had used illegal drugs. > > The rules, however, would not be relaxed for FBI special agents, the fabled > "G-men" who conduct most criminal and terrorism investigations. Also, the new > plan would continue to ban current drug use. > > The nation's former anti-drug czar said he understands the FBI's dilemma. > > "The integrity of the FBI is a known national treasure that must be > protected," said retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who used to head the White > House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "But there should be no hard > and fast rule that suggests you can't ever have used drugs. As long as it's > clear that's behind you and you're overwhelmingly likely to remain drug free, > you should be eligible." > > Current rules prohibit the FBI from hiring anyone who used marijuana within > the past three years or more than 15 times ever. > > "That 16th time is a killer," McCaffrey said. > > The rules also ban anyone who used other illegal drugs, such as cocaine or > heroin, within the past 10 years or more than five times. > > The new FBI proposal would judge applicants based on their "whole person" > rather than limiting drug-related experiences to an arbitrary number. It > would consider the circumstances of a person's previous drug use, such as > their age, and the likelihood of future usage. The relaxed standard already > is in use at most other U.S. intelligence agencies. > > Entry-level intelligence analysts usually earn between $36,000 and $53,000, > depending on qualifications and where they are assigned to work. Entry-level > FBI special agents earn $42,548. > > The FBI proposal contrasts with the agency's starched image and its > drug-fighting history. A generation of video game players can remember seeing > the FBI seal and slogan, "Winners don't use drugs," attributed to former FBI > Director William Sessions, on popular arcade games from the late 1980s. > > Private companies have wrestled with the same problem. Employers complain > they can't afford to turn away applicants because of marijuana use that ended > years earlier, said Robert Drusendahl, owner of The Pre-Check Co. in > Cleveland, Ohio, which performs background employment checks for private > companies. > > "The point is, they can't fill those spots," Drusendahl said. "This is a > microcosm of what's happening outside in the rest of the world. Do we dilute > our standards?" > > He said the FBI should have a low tolerance for any illegal behavior by > applicants. "If they used marijuana, that's illegal. It's pretty cut and > dried." > > A recently retired FBI polygraph examiner, Harold L. Byford of El Paso, > Texas, was quoted in a federal lawsuit in February 2002 arguing that "if > someone has smoked marijuana 15 times, he's done it 50 times. ... If I was > running the show there would be no one in the FBI that ever used illegal > drugs." > > The proposed FBI change also reflects cultural and generational shifts in > attitudes toward marijuana and other drugs, even as the Bush administration > has sought to establish links between terrorists and narcotics. > > "I don't think you could find anybody who hasn't tried marijuana, and I take > a lot of credit for that," said Tommy Chong, the comedian whose films with > Cheech Marin provided over-the-top portrayals of marijuana culture during the > 1980s. "They're going to have to change their policy." > > While marijuana use is hardly universal, it remains the most commonly used > illegal drug in the United States, with about half of teenagers trying the > drug before they graduate high school. > > "What people did when they were 18 or 21, I think that is pretty irrelevant," > said Richard Clarke, a former top White House counterterrorism adviser. "We > have to recognize there are a couple of generations now who regarded > marijuana use, while it's technically illegal, as nothing more serious than > jaywalking." > > An agency's attitude toward drug use has been blamed for unexpected > consequences. The CIA forced one of its officers, Edward Lee Howard, to > resign in May 1983 after he failed a polygraph test and disclosed his drug > use in Colombia during 1975 when he was a Peace Corps volunteer. > > Howard defected to the Soviet Union in 1985 after he was accused of espionage > activities that spy hunters believe were driven by resentment over his forced > resignation. > > "I had been totally honest about each and every misdeed in my past, including > my drug use in South America and my occasional abuse of alcohol," Howard > wrote in his 1995 memoirs. He died in July 2002 at his home outside Moscow. > > Some other federal agencies also have tough marijuana policies. The Drug > Enforcement Administration will not hire applicants as agents who used > illegal drugs, although it makes exceptions for admitting "limited youthful > and experimental use of marijuana." The DEA, however, permits no prior use of > harder drugs. > > "Recreational marijuana use is a fact of life nowadays," said Mark Zaid, a > Washington lawyer who has represented people rejected for FBI jobs over > drugs. > > "It doesn't stop Supreme Court justices from getting on the bench and doesn't > stop presidents from getting elected, so why should it stop someone from > getting hired by the FBI?" > >
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