By Steve Neavling

Former pot smokers are now eligible to become FBI agents – as long as they haven’t used cannabis more than 24 times as an adult. 

That’s according to a recently revised policy for would-be agents, first reported by Marijuana Moment.

The FBI began taking a more tolerant approach to marijuana use among would-be agents earlier this year. Under a policy revised in June, job applicants were qualified to become agents if they haven’t consumed cannabis for at least one year. 

The bureau revised the policy again in the past month, this time limiting eligibility to applicants who have not used cannabis more than 24 times. 

It’s one clear why the bureau draws the line at two dozen. 

The updated policy says that candidates who “have used marijuana or any of its various forms (e.g., cannabis, hashish (hash), hash oil, or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), synthetic or natural), in any location (domestic or foreign) regardless of the legality in that location of use, more than twenty-four (24) times after turning 18 years old is a disqualifier for FBI employment.”

In 2014, then-FBI Director James Comey mentioned a less restrictive employment policy for former marijuana users.  

“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Comey said at the time.

By Steve Neavling

The FBI is taking a more tolerant approach to marijuana use among would-be agents. 

Job applicants who have not consumed cannabis for at least one year are now qualified under employment restrictions that were loosened within the past month, Marijuana Moment reports.

Prospective agents were previously disqualified from the joining the bureau if they had used marijuana in the past three years. 

“Candidates cannot have used marijuana or cannabis in any form (natural or synthetic) and in any location (domestic or foreign) within the one (1) year preceding the date of their application for employment,” FBI’s updated job site says. https://www.fbijobs.gov/working-at-FBI/eligibility

Under another change, marijuana use “before the candidate’s 18th birthday is not a disqualifier for FBI employment.” But the latest update adds, “adjudicative personnel will evaluate the candidate by using the ‘whole-person concept.”

While the FBI made no formal announcements of the loosened restrictions, the bureau mentioned drug use among job candidates in a tweeted posted by the bureau’s Chicago Field Office. 

#FBI is firmly committed to a drug-free society and workplace. Constant review of our hiring and drug policies ensures that we continue to attract the most qualified candidates. To learn if recent changes to our marijuana policy affect you as a candidate: https://t.co/iY5D3rXPfs pic.twitter.com/7eg7lPhSHP

— FBI Chicago (@FBIChicago) July 7, 2021

The more tolerant approach to marijuana use comes as many states legalize cannabis for recreational and medicinal use. While marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, Congress is considering decriminalizing it.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Most people have never heard of James Wormley Jones.

The son of former slaves, Jones was 35 years old when he became the first black FBI agent 100 years ago.

There are no known pictures of him. He’s just a footnote in American history.

“There should be books written about James Wormley Jones,” said John Glover, who became the FBI’s highest-ranking black special agent before retiring in 1989.

Jones served in the Army’s regiment, Buffalo Soldiers, during World War I and was a police officer in Washington D.C.

In 1919, Jones was appointed to what was then the Bureau of Investigations. That same year, more than 100 black people were lynched during the Red Summer, Glover said at an event celebrating 100 years of African American special agents.

During the event, dubbed “Our History, Our Service,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said “diversity remains one of our top priorities here at the FBI.”

Today, 11.3% of the FBI’s employees are black.

“It’s true that we’ve made progress over the past century in the area of diversity, both as a nation and as an organization,” Wray said. “But we’ve got to constantly ask ourselves, ‘Where do we want to be another century from now?’”

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Activists are offering to help ICE agents find new jobs if they quit working for the agency.

The immigration-rights group Never Again Action held a jobs program for ICE agents on Monday, and organizers said two ICE agents asked for help finding new employment.

“A lot of the protesters were chanting ‘quit your job,’” Baselt told The Daily Beast. “I saw an interaction between one protester and a relatively young DHS [Department of Homeland Security] agent who was standing outside the building […] The protester was asking him whether he was OK with what was happening at the border, if he was OK with kids in cages.”

The recruitment effort comes amid a period of low parole for immigration employees, some of whom reportedly committed suicide.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake and Heidi Heitkamp introduced legislation aimed at increasing the number of Border Patrol agents at ports of entry.

The legislation, the Customs and Border Protection and Hiring Retention Act, is deigned to eliminate recruitment obstacles and help retain agents, the Republican and Democrat said in a press release. 

“Arizona can’t afford for its ports to go on strained and understaffed,” Flake, R-Ariz., said in the release. “By tackling CBP’s hiring problems head-on, this bill will help strengthen border security and facilitate the cross-border trade that is critical to Arizona’s economy.”

The senators said Border Patrol is short of about 1,000 agents.

The legislation would provide incentives for Border Patrol agents to stay on the job and not go to other agencies.

“In my visits with border security officials and personnel in Portal last month and Pembina last year, a key concern I heard over and over from agents on the ground was about their abilities to both attract and retain quality workers to best protect our communities – and it’s those challenges that our bipartisan bill would work to address. This effort expands on my work in the U.S. Senate to make it easier to hire and retain federal employees, like border patrol agents, at remote locations such as at the Northern Border. And my bipartisan bill to assess threats to the Northern Border and examine employee recruitment and retention issues is expected to soon be signed into law. Our border patrol agents work to keep our borders protected, and they need to have the resources and support to keep our communities safe,” said Heitkamp, D-N.D.

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By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Sixteen DEA agents who also serve as military reservists have filed a complain that alleges they are discriminated against by management, CBS 8 reports. 

“They (DEA) have a consistent, perpetual harassment that continues to escalate,” said DEA Special Agent Mark Coast of San Diego. “Servicemen should not be treated as second class citizens.”

The agents said management doesn’t like that reservists have to take time off work.

“You sit at your desk and your supervisors will constantly come by and tell you, ‘You need to get out of the service. You can’t serve two masters,'” said Coast, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves since 1987.

The complaint alleges that DEA management routinely subject military reservists to “hostile and offensive comments in the workplace.”

The DEA declined to comment.

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By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

The federal government wants to hire about 1,600 Border Patrol agents by Sept. 30 to fill vacancies across the country.

Applications will be accepted at USAJobs until May 31.

There are currently about 20,000 agents assigned across 6,000 miles of border land.

Applicants must be under the age of 37 and be U.S. citizens. Drug tests and fitness exams also are included.

A Border Patrol agent starts out at about $39,000 and is capable of making more than $70,000 with promotions.

Other Stories of Interest

 

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com 

How’s this for a Catch-22?

To be a linguist for the FBI, you typically need to spend a few years in a foreign country, creating ties with the residents and learning the language.

But living and developing ties in some foreign countries can raise red flags within the FBI, sometimes delaying career advancements, the Atlantic reports.

FBI employees with ties to some countries are placed in a program, Post-Adjudication Risk Management, or PARM, which requires employees to undergo additional polygraph tests, security screenings and other scrutiny.

“Thirteen years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, it’s worth asking whether such security safeguards do more harm than good,” the Atlantic ponders.