Years ago, I spoke with a fellow who worked in the White House on the defense against computer hacking. At the time, hackers were basically kicking the butt of the government, and the government was having a really bad time trying to counter their incursions. Why, I asked. His answer was that almost all people with great computer skills either are or were pot smokers. The United States did not hire pot smokers. Consequently, the United States refused the very people it needed desperately. It would rather get its butt kicked by hackers.

Finally, a bill has been introduced in the House to end the government’s refusal to hire or give security clearances to people who have smoked pot.

Sen. Gary Peters (D–Mich.) last week introduced a bill to prohibit the federal government from deeming an individual ineligible for employment or for a security clearance based solely on past marijuana use. The legislation is named the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment Act of 2024, otherwise known as the DOOBIE Act. Heh.

Yeah, the name of the legislation is too cute by half, and the fact that it seeks to effectuate an Executive Order may be off-putting to those who either knee-jerk oppose anything by Biden or find legislating by EO conceptually troubling. But the text of the bill itself is realistic, necessary and limited.

LIMITATION ON ADVERSE FITNESS DETERMINATIONS BASED ON MARIJUANA USE.

The determination of the fitness of an individual for employment in the civil service may not be based solely on the past use of marijuana by the individual.

LIMITATION ON ADVERSE CREDENTIALING DETERMINATIONS BASED ON MARIJUANA USE.

The Office, in carrying out functions described in section 2.5(c) of Executive Order 13467 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to reforming processes related to suitability for Government employment, fitness for contractor employees, and eligibility for access to classified national security information), shall prohibit unfavorable determinations of eligibility of an individual for a personal identity verification credential based solely on the past use of marijuana by the individual.

Notably, the bill only eliminates ineligibility (1) as the “sole” basis for denial of a position or clearance,and (2) for past use of marijuana. It does not create a protected class of pot smokers who are protected from discrimination. Indeed, any other reason, alone or in combination with pot smoking, would be a permissible basis to refuse to hire. And it relates solely to past marijuana use, although it doesn’t specify whether “past” means the morning before the interview or ten years ago. What it does not do is eliminate the prohibition against hiring and security clearances for current pot smokers. It also doesn’t prohibit firing or revoking clearance for people who smoke weed afterward.

To be fair, it would be fairly hard to find anyone of work-age these days who hasn’t smoked pot at some point in their past. Presidents did it. Why not staff? Indeed, it could well be argued that anyone who has managed to reach work-age who has never smoked weed is a somewhat peculiar person, itself a red flag for a government job or security clearance.

Not only will this serve to end the government being denied personnel it desperately needs to perform its functions, but it also reflects a far more realistic attitude toward people who are hardly bad or evil for having taken the occasional toke. At the same time, the bill provides more than sufficient leeway to take drug use into account if it presents any current concern or in combination with other factors that make employment or clearance problematic.

It’s well past time for the United States to end its prohibition against hiring people who smoked pot in the past. Indeed, it seems archaic, if not ludicrous, that such a prohibition still exists, what with recreational marijuana legal in many states. It’s a good law with a smarmy name that is long overdue and, hopefully, should receive bipartisan support.