Although President Joe Biden says he supports marijuana decriminalization, he seemingly doesn’t want his employees to have used it in the past.
Five White House staffers were asked to resign or demote due to their use of marijuana, even if they’re from one of the 14 states where recreational use is legal.
The Biden administration required employees to disclose past marijuana use for their background check. New hires were told that they would “overlook” those that answered yes. White House director of management and administration Anne Filipic reportedly reached out to staffers who admitted to past marijuana use, and asked them to resign or work remotely. NY Post reports this move is due to the administration changing their guidelines to allow “limited” drug use in the past.
Marijuana is legalized in a few states, it’s still illegal on the federal level. The article reports that would be “difficult” for staffers trying to get security clearances if they’ve used the drug in the past. One ex-staffer said, “the policies were never explained, the threshold for what was excusable and what was inexcusable was never explained.”
Social media found the news interesting and shared their opinions. Take a look:
https://twitter.com/benlabolt/status/1372928616288247810?s=21
Today would be a very good day to re-hire anyone who was fired for smoking marijuana, expunge all marijuana records and take executive action to legalize weed. That is the right thing to do morally and it is precisely what the overwhelming majority of the American people want.
— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) March 19, 2021
I've smoked weed.
Almost everybody I know has tried marijuana.
Most of my successful, smart, talented, capable friends and colleagues have smoked marijuana.
And almost every young adult I've met has smoked marijuana.
It's 2021. Grow up, America.https://t.co/IVHvRmV4vd
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) March 19, 2021
No one should be in jail for smoking marijuana.
No one should lose their job (or have a criminal record) for having smoked it.
Legalize it.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) March 19, 2021
Your periodic reminder that alcohol is a more destructive drug than marijuana is or ever will be.
— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) March 19, 2021