# Biden White House fires and otherwise ostricizes staffers for acknowledging they used marijuana in the past **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 21, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363 "2021-03-21T19:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/41 "2021-03-22T17:56:47Z")
Are we actually regressing when it comes to tolerance of drugs? Obama was a pot smoker, and he admitted to cocaine use as well. No one much cared. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/42 "2021-03-22T17:59:46Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Are we actually regressing when it comes to tolerance of drugs? Obama was a pot smoker, and he admitted to cocaine use as well. No one much cared. - You left out the [“in high school and college”](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BothSidesAllSides/story?id=2773754&page=1) part. Funny, that. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/43 "2021-03-22T18:01:07Z")
Most federal employees have to pass lengthy background investigations in order to get a security clearance. If you want to work in the White House and gain access to sensitive (not necessarily classified) information, you have to be cleared. Biden didn’t make the rules. I didn’t read the entire story but if someone lies in an attempt to conceal material information on a clearance, that’s an immediate disqualifier and termination; it’s also a potential crime. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/44 "2021-03-22T18:01:32Z")
Yep. Most who admitted to past weed use were Oked, only five were not. As a retired Fed, I know that even a small lie gets you ix-naxyed . Biden has said he wasnt pot decriminalized and whatever states want to legalized it, fine by him. And Joe himself had nothing to do with this, he likely wasnt even consulted. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/45 "2021-03-22T18:05:00Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > and/or giving Biden a pass on things that are BS because they are overjoyed that he won the last election (which I am). But BS is BS. And, as said upthread, and by others quoted in the Daily Beast article, this policy serves no purpose other than to exclude qualified people and alienate younger voters, both from voting and from politics in general. First of all, Biden likely has nothing to do with this. Next, it could have well been for _lying_ about past use. Note that most staffers who admitted to past use were hired, only a few were not. We dont know the whole story but the fact that hundreds got the Ok, and only five didnt indicates it wasnt simply past pot use. And it shows clearly that past pot use isnt a bar to getting hired. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/46 "2021-03-22T18:06:13Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > I think it’s the flipflop. They PTB said it wouldn’t be a problem, then changed their minds. No they didnt. Read the story. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/47 "2021-03-22T18:06:37Z")
This is true in many cases; it depends on the agency and the position. Law enforcement tends to take a dim view of illicit drug use even when it comes to experimentation, with greater scrutiny for those who used after high school/college. DEA is the probably the least tolerant for reasons that are probably obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/48 "2021-03-22T21:00:28Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > There were a _lot_ of kinds of derogatory information where there were no bright lines. If you had a shoplifting conviction 10 years ago and no other criminal record, you’d almost certainly be cleared. If you had two convictions in the last five years and were currently awaiting trial for a third arrest, you’d be denied. It’s always a judgement call. It’s not always “fair”, but that’s how judgement calls work. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can be denied a security clearance for drinking too much, can’t you? Security clearances aren’t strictly about legality, they’re about responsibility, and there’s a ton of perfectly legal activities that could still signal, “Don’t trust this person with secure information.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/49 "2021-03-22T21:25:54Z")
Has there been any official statement from the administration about why these individuals were fired? “I was fired for past pot use” could mean “I came to work stoned last Thursday”: Last Thursday is, after all, in the past. For that matter, it could mean “I was fired because I got caught embezzling, but I don’t want to admit that, so I’m lying and saying it was about pot”. The word of a fired person is not necessarily reliable. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/50 "2021-03-22T22:06:45Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can be denied a security clearance for drinking too much, can’t you? Security clearances aren’t strictly about legality, they’re about responsibility, and there’s a ton of perfectly legal activities that could still signal, “Don’t trust this person with secure information.” That’s possible, but I don’t remember excessive drinking ever coming up in any of the cases I dealt with. On the other hand, excessive and mismanaged debt, while perfectly legal, was the most common derogatory information. I remember one fairly senior NCO with an otherwise sterling record who was denied a renewal of his security clearance because he had declared bankruptcy. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/51 "2021-03-22T23:40:37Z")
> Security clearances aren’t strictly about legality, they’re about responsibility, and there’s a ton of perfectly legal activities that could still signal, “Don’t trust this person with secure information.” And yet, two posters on this message board recently expressed shock and RO that credit checks were used in employment decisions at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/52 "2021-03-23T01:30:08Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > You left out the [“in high school and college”](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BothSidesAllSides/story?id=2773754&page=1) part. Funny, that. I didn’t think it was relevant. And it’s not my job to soft-pedal Obama’s history. I believe some of the people we are talking about here also said they only smoked in college. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/53 "2021-03-23T01:43:46Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > And yet, two posters on this message board recently expressed shock and RO that credit checks were used in employment decisions at all. Because we weren’t talking about govt clearances, were we? We were talking about somebody’s brother who desperately needed a job because he was in foreclosure and was turned down because of the foreclosure. Many people don’t realize that that could be an issue in a civilian position (such as a casino). We don’t know what the job he applied for was. Not sure why you dragged that over here. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/54 "2021-03-23T01:45:43Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I didn’t think it was relevant. And it’s not my job to soft-pedal Obama’s history. - _Of course_ you didn’t. And it’s also not your job to imply his use was much later in life than it truly was. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/55 "2021-03-23T01:54:02Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I believe some of the people we are talking about here also said they only smoked in college. Can you point out what led you to believe that? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/56 "2021-03-23T01:54:56Z")
Drinking’s a potential issue if it causes problems with work or personal relationships and absolutely a deal if it results in illegal conduct (DUI, domestic violence, assault/battery) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/57 "2021-03-23T01:58:28Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > _Of course_ you didn’t. And it’s also not your job to imply his use was much later in life than it truly was. I did no such thing. I just said he also used pot and cocaine, and that he admitted it. All true. I actually don’t know when he used coke. He was part of the ‘choom gang’ in high school, an admitted heavy user, but his coke use was detailed in his autobiography, which I didn’t read. I don’t care anyway. I am for drug legalization. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/58 "2021-03-23T02:14:28Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Drinking’s a potential issue if it causes problems with work or personal relationships and absolutely a deal if it results in illegal conduct (DUI, domestic violence, assault/battery) Well, DUI, domestic violence, and assault/battery are issues in and of themselves, completely separate from heavy drinking. As I said, it certainly seems possible that heavy drinking would be noted on a background check as derogatory information, it’s just that I personally never encountered that in any of the cases I dealt with, and I don’t remember ever discussing it with investigators or clearance board members. Prior drug use and finances came up all the time, though. And, again, prior drug use by itself wasn’t necessarily disqualifying. @SingleMalt’s anecdote about their sister-in-law is pretty much exactly how I remember cases being handled. If you were up front and honest about your past drug use, and made a credible presentation that you were no longer using, you got some extra scrutiny, and your clearance would probably be delayed for extra investigation and interviews, but it generally wasn’t a bar. Continued or recent drug use was almost always a bar, though. And _lying_ about it was much worse. You can’t be prosecuted for drug use based on your answers in a background investigation, but you can be prosecuted for lying about it. Finances were by far the most common bar. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/59 "2021-03-23T02:23:28Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > And yet, two posters on this message board recently expressed shock and RO that credit checks were used in employment decisions at all. And what on Earth made you think this was relevant to my post? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363/60 "2021-03-23T02:43:13Z")
I was agreeing with you. It’s a matter of responsibility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-white-house-fires-and-otherwise-ostricizes-staffers-for-acknowledging-they-used-marijuana-in-the-past/938363.md?page=4)