Marijuana use is still illegal in the military, because marijuana is still illegal on the federal level. But more and more states are legalizing or decriminalizing its use...
So, the military has stepped up anti-drug briefings and testing...telling the young troops that just because their state has legalized or decriminalized pot, it’s still illegal for a military member to use cannabis...
I recently had a talk with an Army Command Sgt Major...he said after the Christmas mass leaves at his base, they will drug test everybody from the lowest Private up to the Commander because of marijuana...
And now, Pot Stocks are starting to cause serious concerns for people with security clearances...there is a growing debate among various factions that simply owning pot stocks can be a reason for someone losing their security clearance...
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/tom-temi ... ks-debate/Someone deep in the Defense Department has offered clarification that if you own stock in a “marijuana company” you could jeopardize your security clearance. The idea has ignited quite a debate.
This clarification concerns the DoD Consolidated Adjudications Facility. You won’t find it at the DODCAF web site but as Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione reported, it came from an email cut and pasted into a Facebook page for Air Force officers. But the approach to clearance and stocks was confirmed by a Defense spokeswoman, Army Lt. Col. Audricia Harris, who vigorously quashed the idea that any new policy has come out.
In this commentary, the writer goes through the various positions, which range from those who say there is no written policy specifically banning military members from owning pot stocks...to those who feel current policy is enough to threaten getting or keeping a security clearance...
One last interesting questions...if marijuana is legalized on the federal level...how will the military handle it?A reader commented on our story, pointing out that the relevant policy found in DoD Manual 5200.02 states that illegal or inappropriate involvement in drugs is out of bounds. With respect to personal use of illegal drugs, Section 7B.2 of the April 2017 revision is clear: “… agencies are prohibited from granting or renewing a security clearance to an unlawful user of a controlled substance, which includes marijuana. Legislative changes by some states and the District of Columbia do not alter federal law or existing national security guidelines.”
Fair enough. That’s the policy, and people decide at some point whether they’ll be law abiding or not, or how badly they want a security clearance.
But just above that, section 7B.1 states, as the reader noted, “Improper or illegal involvement with drugs raises questions regarding an individual’s willingness or ability to protect classified information.”
Illegal involvement strikes me as something people could reasonably agree on. If you import, manufacture, distribute, or sell, for example, like the badasses on “Breaking Bad.”
But what is “improper involvement?” For that matter, what does “raising questions” mean? Extend that to stock ownership in legal enterprises, and the latest interpretation, in my view, becomes so distantly derived from 5200.02 as to be indefensible.
Discuss.
