{"id":5174,"date":"2023-02-02T04:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=5174"},"modified":"2023-02-07T07:25:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:25:39","slug":"spies-who-use-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspiring Spies Who Use Cannabis Should Hold Off on Applying to CIA"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you aspire to work in the intelligence community in the United States, particularly the CIA, you might want to put your dreams on hold temporarily if you have used cannabis in the last three months. The CIA marijuana policy may also require you to answer questions about past drug use which could impact whether you get a job or your level of security clearance if you do.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t really blame the CIA marijuana policy on the agency itself. Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, using cannabis – even if it\u2019s legal in your state<\/a> – poses a problem for the CIA. That\u2019s because federal law still views what you\u2019re doing as illegal, and the CIA can\u2019t hire people who commit federal crimes.<\/p>\n

The CIA Marijuana Policy For Job Applicants<\/h2>\n

The CIA marijuana policy is straightforward and included on its website under CIA requirements<\/a>.\u00a0It reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough some states have legalized marijuana use, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Those who are invited to apply must not have used marijuana or products containing THC within 90 days prior to submitting an application, or any time thereafter. This includes prescription medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also emphasize that \u201caccurate and consistent reporting of previous drug use, including marijuana, is expected through each phase of processing.\u201d<\/p>\n

They define THC products as anything containing more than 0.3 percent THC. That corresponds with the THC percentage figure used in the federal law enacted by Congress as part of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill that legalized hemp products, including CBD.<\/p>\n

More Insight From Ask Molly Column<\/h3>\n

The CIA publish an \u201cAsk Molly\u201d column that fields questions from people about the CIA and answers them online. \u201cMolly Hale\u201d is the pseudonym used by the various CIA agents who answer the questions. In a column that is still posted on the CIA website<\/a>, a person called \u201cEager to Serve\u201d admits to past drug use and asks if they are still fit to work for the agency.<\/p>\n

In responding to the question, Molly wrote that while the drug policy might seem \u201ca bit archaic,\u201d CIA officers often handle sensitive, classified information and there are \u201cconsequences of granting access to the wrong person.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blog continued, \u201cI\u2019m not asserting that those who have experimented with drugs are in some way bad or unworthy, but a willingness to break federal law to engage in illicit drug use can be used as a measure of someone\u2019s fitness to hold a security clearance.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, \u201cMolly\u201d went on to write that \u201cgenerally speaking, to be eligible for CIA employment, applicants must not have used illegal drugs within the past 12 months.\u201d The blog noted that this applies to marijuana use. Even if an applicant lives in a state where marijuana is legal, they need to understand that \u201cstate laws do not supersede those of the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marijuana and Eligibility for Federal Jobs<\/h3>\n

The CIA\u2019s \u201cthree month rule\u201d – or even the 12-month rule from the Ask Molly column – seems open-minded when compared to past actions by federal agencies, including warnings from NASA and the U.S. Navy to employees and sailors to not use CBD products (which are legal nationwide). The Department of Defense, Air Force and Coast Guard issues similar warnings.<\/p>\n

However, the FBI recently loosened its restrictions against past marijuana use. The agency changed its policy so that job candidates are only automatically disqualified from joining the agency if they admit to cannabis use within one year of applying. Previously, past use within the last three years meant disqualification.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has also recommended that 19 U.S. intelligence agencies officially change their rules<\/a>to allow hiring those who admit to past use of cannabis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CIA will reject applicants who have used cannabis in the past three months and also will expect \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,19],"tags":[1389,1388,1326],"yoast_head":"\nHold off on CIA Application if Using Cannabis as an Aspiring Spy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CIA rejects applicants who used cannabis in the past three months and expects \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hold off on CIA Application if Using Cannabis as an Aspiring Spy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CIA rejects applicants who used cannabis in the past three months and expects \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-02T12:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-07T15:25:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cia.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/\",\"name\":\"Hold off on CIA Application if Using Cannabis as an Aspiring Spy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-02T12:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-07T15:25:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"CIA rejects applicants who used cannabis in the past three months and expects \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Aspiring Spies Who Use Cannabis Should Hold Off on Applying to CIA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dispensaries Editor\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hold off on CIA Application if Using Cannabis as an Aspiring Spy","description":"CIA rejects applicants who used cannabis in the past three months and expects \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hold off on CIA Application if Using Cannabis as an Aspiring Spy","og_description":"CIA rejects applicants who used cannabis in the past three months and expects \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/","og_site_name":"Dispensaries","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","article_published_time":"2023-02-02T12:20:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-07T15:25:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/cia.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dispensaries Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dispensariescom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dispensaries Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/","name":"Hold off on CIA Application if Using Cannabis as an Aspiring Spy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-02-02T12:20:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-07T15:25:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0"},"description":"CIA rejects applicants who used cannabis in the past three months and expects \u201caccurate and consistent\u201d answers about past drug use.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/spies-who-use-cannabis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Aspiring Spies Who Use Cannabis Should Hold Off on Applying to CIA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/","name":"Dispensaries","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0","name":"Dispensaries Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dispensaries Editor"},"description":"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom"],"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5174"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5192,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5174\/revisions\/5192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}