Pubdate: Thu, 29 May 2014
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2014 Boulder Weekly
Contact:  http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Author: Leland Rucker

FBI LEARNS THAT THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST AREN'T ALWAYS THE STRAIGHTEST

He's tried to back off from his comment a bit, but FBI Director James 
Comey rather candidly admitted recently that his organization, tasked 
with hiring hackers to fight cybercrime, is having a hard time 
finding good employees who don't use cannabis.

"I have to hire a great workforce to compete with those 
cybercriminals, and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way 
to the interview," Comey told The Wall Street Journal.

The FBI director said that his agency is actively revising its 
employment rules per cannabis, which now state that anyone who has 
smoked weed in the last three years is ineligible. When an audience 
member said he has cannabis-using friends who were interested in 
hacking for the government but put off by the rule, Comey told him 
they should apply. "We have changed both our mind-set and the way we 
do business," he said.

If you're like me, you had to snicker a little at this so-called 
"news." Anyone who has ever worked at a tech or internet company in 
the last 15 years knows this inherently. I mean, duh!

Here we have corporate America spending billions of dollars every 
year drug-testing employees, mostly to eliminate cannabis users, 
apparently lulled into thinking that by doing so it is attracting 
only the best and brightest.

There are certainly those who use no drugs or alcohol who are among 
the best and brightest. But to imagine that somehow cannabis use 
eliminates you from that category is really, really shortsighted, if 
not, in my humble view, just stupid. Smart tech companies know that 
cannabis use itself has no real effect on work performance, one way 
or the other. Employees who use cannabis mostly work without 
problems, as do employees with alcohol, and those who don't will be 
found out soon enough. Except not by today's drug testing. (Google 
performance testing vs. urine testing for more on this subject.)

One of Amendment 64's compromises allows Colorado companies to 
continue to test for and eliminate people for cannabis use, even 
though it's legal and supposed to be treated like alcohol. Many 
continue to do so. Hopefully, admissions and policy changes like 
those Comey outlined will help convince corporate bosses of the huge 
costs and folly of their actions.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, representing those who still want 
cannabis outlawed, scolded Comey for "dismissing the seriousness of 
marijuana use." What the hell does that even mean? Is he suggesting 
that Comey, who is trying to find legitimate crime-fighters, continue 
to reject candidates on the basis of their cannabis use and not hire 
the best people?

Sessions and others who support the War on Drugs continue to believe 
that somehow demonizing cannabis will keep it away from teenagers. 
Which, if memory serves, hasn't worked too well in the years since 
the Reagans came up with Just Say No.

Meanwhile, as our tax dollars continue to be pissed away, millions of 
Americans continue to use cannabis, many daily, in all age groups, 
and function like anyone else. Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans 
use cannabis and have been part of the workforce for decades. 
Legalization hasn't changed anything in that regard. The only 
difference is where they are purchasing it.

Further evidence of the disapprobation about cannabis was the recent 
brush-up over the Denver Symphony's "bring your own weed" benefit 
concerts. I waxed enthusiastically about the series after it was 
announced. In response, the Denver city attorney sent a bullying 
letter to the symphony, warning that cannabis violations would be 
prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

This was interesting, since what the symphony planned - a private 
party with an entry price of $75, open to adults only - appeared to 
be legal under Amendment 64. It just pissed off those who don't like 
seeing cannabis associated with something like the arts.

The compromise required the symphony to remove the concerts from its 
website, refund ticket sales, make it invitation-only and wall off 
the outdoor patio where guests could indulge. This could have been 
done easily enough without the public spat the city seemed intent upon.

The event, like retail sales here, went off without a hitch, and was 
covered by The New York Times, which used a photo of Boulder 
lobbyist/advocate Shawn Coleman lighting a blunt over a story that 
treated it with the cultural respect it deserved. And with it, 
cannabis steps further into the mainstream. The Times won't be back 
this summer.

All in all, it was just another funding night for the symphony, which 
raised 50,000 needed dollars. Some of that money probably even came 
from hackers. We can all look forward to the day when all this is no 
longer considered news.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom