White House Approval Sought For Changes To Marijuana Questions In Federal Hiring Process
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U.S. officials are seeking White House approval on proposed changes to federal hiring practices that would treat past marijuana use by applicants much more leniently than current policy does. If approved, the changes are expected to significantly expand the pool of eligible candidates for government jobs. Existing federal job-application forms ask candidates about their past cannabis use within the past one, five or seven years, depending on the security level of the position. Under the proposal from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), applicants would be asked about marijuana use only within the past 90 days. The changes would also remove cannabis from the forms’ questions about the use of illegal drugs generally and instead add separate questions about marijuana. Further, they would make clear that use of cannabis products containing less than 0.3 percent THC, which is now classified as federally legal hemp, does not need to be disclosed at all. The agency first announced the plans in a Federal Register notice late last year, seeking to widen the applicant pool for qualified federal workers and recognize what it called “changing societal norms” amid the state-level legalization movement. That announcement opened a 60-day public comment period. In a new new notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, OPM says it will now ask the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the changes. Another round of public comments will be accepted for 30 days. The draft Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ) would replace the current SF85, SF85P, SF 85P-S and SF86 forms, which each cover positions of varying levels of sensitivity and security. Those forms require applicants to disclose use of illicit drugs by checking them off on a list. During the last round of public input on the new unified questionnaire proposal,…

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Source : White House Approval Sought For Changes To Marijuana Questions In Federal Hiring Process

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