A new piece of legislation has been introduced by Senator Gary Peters (D) that aims to alter the way federal agencies evaluate prior cannabis use when determining eligibility for security clearances and employment. The bill, titled the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles & Barriers to Individual Employment (DOOBIE) Act, was proposed on July 11, 2024.
The measure is designed to ensure that previous cannabis use does not negatively impact a person’s eligibility for federal jobs. Currently, federal law still prohibits cannabis users from federal employment and denies them security clearances because cannabis use and possession are still considered crimes at the federal level.
Despite cannabis being legal for medical use in 38 states and for adult use in 24 states, federal restrictions remain strict. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is currently going through public comments on a proposal to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule 3 substance, which would lessen federal restrictions compared to its current Schedule 1 status, where it is grouped with substances such as cocaine and heroin.
The proposed legislation would prohibit the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) together with executive offices from basing employment appropriateness judgments on an individual’s prior cannabis use. Additionally, it would amend current legislation to ensure that previous cannabis use does not prevent one from obtaining security clearances or credentials for personal identification verification.
The bill explicitly modifies guidelines and definitions to conform to modern perspectives and the legal status of cannabis. It makes changes to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 Section 3002, eliminating marijuana’s classification as a “controlled substance” for security clearance purposes. Consequently, previous cannabis use would not constitute grounds for federal agencies to refuse security clearances or employment eligibility.
The Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) Office and OPM are tasked with assisting agencies in implementing these changes and making sure their rules conform with the act. The measure seeks to eliminate barriers to government employment for individuals with a history of cannabis use and lessen the stigma attached to its use.
There have long been initiatives to lessen prohibitions on marijuana users applying for federal jobs. Last year, a bipartisan House measure called the CURE Act, coauthored by Nancy Mace (R) and Jamie Raskin (D), proposed amendments to federal law to remove prior cannabis use as a disqualifying factor for federal employment candidates. The CURE Act also sought to ensure that cannabis use would not be a basis for depriving prospective federal employees of security clearances.
A few federal agencies have already started to implement the changes proposed in Peters’ bill. The OPM released guidelines in 2021 that said an applicant for a federal job cannot be denied solely based on prior cannabis use. The ODNI also revised its guidelines to make sure that government workers and contractors cannot have their security clearance denied based solely on prior cannabis use.
The wider cannabis industry, including leading entities such as Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF), hopes that these different reform measures eventually yield tangible changes to the current marijuana policies at the federal level beyond the anticipated reclassification.
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