FBI may relax drug rules

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is considering easing its restrictions on applicants with a history of drug use, officials said this week. Under the current rules, the FBI will not employ anyone who has used any illegal drug, including marijuana, within the last three years, or more than 15 times in their lifetime. But senior FBI managers have recently expressed frustration at the rigidity of the system, and at having to reject otherwise well-qualified candidates because they smoked 16 joints in college, rather than 15. “The integrity of the FBI is a known national treasure that must be protected,” said former drug czar Barry McCaffrey. “But there should be no hard-and-fast rule that suggests you can’t ever have used drugs.”