This is the lead story in the Daily Beast for subscribers only, but Yahoo! News has it here.
Above article was updated: 11:30 a.m. Friday with White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s response.
My reaction was “what the blank are they doing?
It should be the opposite. They should be looking askance at anyone who denied ever at least trying marijuana. I think a person has to be particularly rigid if they made it through college without at least trying marijuana. This isn’t a personality characteristic I want people in the administration to have.
One might say that if you used, tried, or still use cannabis products you should just not reveal this, but it is more than a don’t ask don't tell situation:
A candidate’s personal drug history, barring past convictions for possession, is largely based on the honor system, as well as supplemental interviews with family and friends by the FBI—although lying on the 136-page SF-86 form is a felony, and effectively bars a candidate from ever working for a federal agency.
Opioid abuse gets a lot of publicity. However alcoholism is a national health problem and is sometimes is combined opioid and alcohol abuse.
In 2018 The Washington Post published “As alcoholism fells another congressman, a reminder that no one is immune to addiction.” This article is about Rep. Thomas Garrett. Here’s an excerpt:
Washington is full of temptations. Alcohol is one. But this problem predates the congressman’s arrival in the Capitol. The 46-year-old says people close to him have been cautioning him about his drinking since he was in his early 20s. But this apparently widely known problem did not stop the former state senator, prosecutor and Army veteran from getting elected in 2016 to represent a massive swath of central Virginia, including Charlottesville.
Garrett, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, insists he’s never been drunk on the job. “I never, ever, ever had a drink during the day,” he said in an interviewlast night with Laura Vozzella. “I didn’t keep booze in my drawer. … When I knew I could drink [after work], I would drink, and I would drink to my own detriment.”
As the government struggles to respond to the opioid epidemic, Garrett’s decision to give up what might have been a safe House seat provides a timely reminder that everyone is at risk to addiction. It does not matter what party you’re in, how much money you have, whether you have a supportive spouse, etc. Just look at the front pages of the nation’s newspapers on any given day to see how addiction impacts every community in America. “Substance abuse is a serious issue that reaches even to the halls of Congress,” said John Whitbeck, the chairman of the Virginia GOP. “Tom has tremendous courage for bringing his own struggle to light.”
This is just one example. Those old enough may remember the most notorious case involving Fanne Foxe. Trivia buffs can score points if they identify what she’s famous for before clicking here.
The Daily Beast article concludes as follows:
But would-be staffers in the Biden administration whose dream jobs were derailed by an opaque system now feel their own truthfulness has been used against them.
“It’s exclusively targeting younger staff and staff who came from states where it was legal,” the former staffer said.
There’s a hole in this argument. The policy or practice, or whatever it is, targets highly qualified people of all ages who for recreational or medical reasons used or use marijuana or cannabis products. The no-brainer question for readers of Daily Kos is how is indulging in pot after a hard days work any different from having a drink or two. To extend this further, how different is it than having a three, four, or five drinks? The answer to that is of course that it is very different.
Where does this witch hunt come from? I will be sorely disappointed if it turns out that it was initiated directly by President Biden. This isn’t an instance of progressive politics vs more moderate politics. It is an example of unscientific thinking. It has no place in a Democratic administration.
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Related: Marijuana in the Workplace