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A U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill to limit the ability of federal agencies to use past marijuana use\u00a0as a factor<\/a> in making employment and security clearance decisions. The legislation is titled the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment, or DOOBIE, Act.<\/p>\n The measure cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is chaired by the bill sponsor, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), in a 9-5 vote on Wednesday. This represents the latest legislative attempt to ensure that a person\u2019s eligibility for the federal workforce is not negatively impacted just because they\u2019re previously consumed cannabis.<\/p>\n The DOOBIE Act, a play on a term used to refer to a marijuana joint, was initially set to receive a markup in the Senate panel in July, but that hearing was later cancelled and rescheduled<\/a> last week. Members of the panel approved a substitute version of the measure from the sponsor that included mostly technical changes, as well as a new section on oversight of its implementation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe federal government must adapt its hiring practices to reflect the evolving legal and social landscape of our nation,\u201d Peters said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cMy bill takes a crucial step by aligning federal policy with existing agency guidance, ensuring that past marijuana use alone doesn\u2019t automatically disqualify talented individuals from public service. This approach will expand our talent pool and create a fairer, more inclusive hiring process.\u201d<\/p>\n All of the panel\u2019s Democrats and its one independent voted in support of the legislation, while all of its Republicans were against it\u2014with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who as the committee\u2019s ranking member cast his vote in support.<\/p>\n The bill states that covered agencies \u201cmay not base a suitability determination with respect to an individual solely on the past use of marijuana by the individual.\u201d The White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would also need to adopt that policy.<\/p>\n The bill further says that \u201cthe head of a Federal agency may not base a determination that a covered person is ineligible for a security clearance solely on the past use of marijuana by the covered person.\u201d<\/p>\n They additionally could not use prior cannabis use to deny a personal identity verification credential, which enables federal workers to access various facilities and information.<\/p>\n Also under the\u00a0proposal<\/a>, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) would be required to enact regulations that update its own cannabis policies and assist other federal agencies in implementing the employment and security clearance changes.<\/p>\n To that point, DNI has previously affirmed\u00a0that it is\u00a0not the federal government\u2019s current policy to deny people security clearances<\/a>\u00a0based on past marijuana use alone, stating that it is counterproductive to recruitment efforts, especially amid the growing legalization movement.<\/p>\n The substitute that was adopted in committee on Wednesday features a new section stipulating that the U.S. comptroller general would have an oversight responsibility to ensure that the reform is being implemented in accordance with the law. Specifically, the comptroller general would need to assess whether OPM and DNI has reviewed the policy and issued updated guidance, as well as how the agencies are communicating the change.<\/p>\n It would also need to hold a briefing with Senate and House committee within 18 months about its assessment of the law\u2019s implementation, and it would also need to issue a report by a date to be determined by the bicameral committee.<\/p>\n Peters\u2019s legislation would\u00a0achieve the same key objectives of a bipartisan House bill<\/a>\u00a0that was introduced last year. Originally, that measure would have provided employment protections and prevented security clearance denials for past and current marijuana use, but a committee amendment limited it to past consumption.<\/p>\n The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored that bill in February,\u00a0determining that it would have a \u201cnegligible\u201d fiscal impact<\/a>\u2014in large part because analysts say provisions on reviewing past denials for potential relief likely can\u2019t be carried out under current federal record-keeping policies.<\/p>\n Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the prime sponsor of the legislation, also attempted to enact the reform via an amendment to a marijuana legalization bill,\u00a0but it was narrowly defeated on the House floor<\/a>\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n Last year, the Senate separately approved a measure that would prevent intelligence agencies from\u00a0denying security clearances to applicants solely due to their past marijuana use<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) filed a broader amendment in 2022 that would have prevented employment discrimination based on prior or present cannabis use at any federal department, not just those dealing with intelligence. But the provision was\u00a0scaled back under a second-degree amendment<\/a>\u00a0from the panel\u2019s chairman before being adopted by the committee. And then the reform was ultimately quashed\u00a0when two GOP senators objected to attaching<\/a>\u00a0the broader bill to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on the floor if it included the marijuana language.<\/p>\n \u2014 Meanwhile, in July the House approved the 2025 NDAA that includes a section to prevent military branches from testing recruits for marijuana<\/a>\u00a0as a condition of enlistment has been left intact, despite opposition from the White House.<\/p>\n The Department of Defense (DOD) told lawmakers last year that marijuana\u2019s active ingredient delta-9 THC is the\u00a0most common substance that appears on positive drug tests<\/a>\u00a0for active duty military service members. And several military branches have taken steps to loosen cannabis-related restrictions, including\u00a0issuing waivers for recruits who test positive their first time<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also this year, the House Rules Committee has blocked a series of proposed amendments to various spending bills<\/a>\u00a0that would have prevented covered agencies from testing job applicants for marijuana use<\/a> in legal states. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) has sought to enact the reform through numerous spending measures\u2014so far without success.<\/p>\n Read the substitute DOOBIE Act<\/a> that was approved in committee below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Federal Safety Board Says Marijuana Rescheduling Could \u2018Imperil\u2019 Truck Driver Drug Testing, Despite Transportation Secretary\u2019s Assurances<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Senate Committee Approves \u2018DOOBIE Act\u2019 To Prevent Agencies From Using Past Marijuana Use To Deny Employment And Security Clearances<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill to limit the ability of federal agencies to use past marijuana use\u00a0as a factor in making employment and security clearance decisions. The legislation is titled the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment, or DOOBIE, Act. The measure cleared the SenateContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":77837,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77838,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77836\/revisions\/77838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Senate Committee Approves \u2018DOOBIE Act\u2019 To Prevent Agencies From Using Past Marijuana Use To Deny Employment And Security Clearances<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"