FBI contemplates relaxing zero tolerance marijuana policy

The FBI may have to relax its zero tolerance marijuana policy as it struggles to recruit the best talent in the computer hacking world, its director James Comey has told a conference.
Fri, 23 May 2014The FBI may have to relax its zero tolerance marijuana policy as it struggles to recruit the best talent in the computer hacking world, its director James Comey has told a conference.

The Wall Street Journal has reported Comey as saying it is "grappling with the question" of whether to hire cyber security experts who use cannabis. The US agency's current policy prohibits anyone working for it who has used cannabis in the past three years.

The US Congress has authorised the FBI to recruit 2,000 personnel this year, and many of those new recruits will be assigned to tackle cyber crimes, a growing priority for the agency.

Comey told the White Collar Crime Institute, an annual conference held at the New York City Bar Association in Manhattan, that the problem is that a lot of the nation’s top computer programmers and hacking experts are also fond of marijuana.

"I have to hire a great workforce to compete with those cybercriminals, and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview," he was quoted as saying.

The Wall Street Journal article added that when one attendee asked how a cannabis-using friend interested in working for the bureau should now act, Comey replied: "He should go ahead and apply."

A spokeswoman for the FBI confirmed Comey had discussed cannabis in unscripted remarks during a question and answer session after his speech at the conference. However, during a committee hearing at the Senate on Wednesday the FBI director subsequently said he had been trying to be "philosophic and funny" when he made the comments.

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