The FBI is having recruiting problems. So they may be looking for a few good pot heads.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long had a clear policy on marijuana: It doesn’t hire anyone who has smoked it in the previous three years.
But the bureau is rethinking that stance, according to FBI Director James B. Comey, who addressed the issue at an annual conference in New York on Monday.
Mr. Comey said that the FBI may have to loosen up its stance in order to attract talented new agents, especially those equipped to go after some of the world’s most sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals. He spoke on the same day that the Justice Department indicted five Chinese army officers, alleging they hacked into U.S. companies’ computers, a charge that Beijing denied.
Congress has authorized the FBI to add 2,000 personnel to its rolls this year, and many of those new recruits will be assigned to tackle cybercrimes, a growing priority for the agency. That is a problem, said Mr. Comey, as a lot of the nation’s top computer programmers and hacking gurus are also fond of marijuana.
“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cybercriminals, and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Mr. Comey said. He added that the agency was now “grappling” with how to amend its marijuana policies.
This puts a big hole in the “pot makes people stupid” argument.
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6 responses to “Because Pot Makes People Stupid”
Come to Vermont.
This puts a big hole in the “pot makes people stupid” argument.
Wait until you’ve had the “Dave’s not here” conversation with a 50 year old pot head who despite being (or has been) a software developer of some talent, can’t work GPS or find your house after he’s been there 4 times. Or until you are that guy.
My experience is that pot doesn’t make people any stupider than they were to start. It just makes it evident.
While it is rude to pull rank, I’ve watched many friends over the last 35-40 years. YMMV, I suppose. Or perhaps the observation or lack thereof is correlated to a lack of foresight and/or the stupid gene itself.
I think that cannabis interacts with intellect in some non-obvious ways. I’ve seen people who used it regularly, and were unfazed by it, including dropping its use entirely with no ill effects. I’ve seen people who were seemingly struck dumb when they commenced regular use of it.
Personally, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. I don’t want to find out which half of the bi-modal distribution I fall into.
Oh the delicious irony of the government finding it necessary to hire cannabis users in order to combat cyber crimes. Love it.
Some years back I worked for a software development company (I was in an admin position). Lots of the developers used pot. As some of those folks explained to me, a nice little buzz helped them unclutter their minds as they did their work. It seems that the buzz helps one eliminate or ignore background noise in the mind that can be distracting as they perform work that requires a high degree of analytical skills.