President Joe Biden’s administration discriminated against a number of staffers at the White House due to past marijuana use by suspending them, asking them to resign, or placing them in a remote work program, according to a recent report by the Daily Beast.
The unwritten policy came as a shock to the affected employees as they had been given the impression that their previous pot smoking would be tolerated, the news outlet has learned.
“The policies were never explained, the threshold for what was excusable and what was inexcusable was never explained,” said one former White House staffer, who claimed they were asked to resign.
Among those affected by the practice are staffers who had a history of cannabis use only in cities and states where recreational use is legal, according to the report.
We announced a few weeks ago that the White House had worked with the security service to update the policies to ensure that past marijuana use wouldn’t automatically disqualify staff from serving in the White House. (https://t.co/DG3YuqejtZ)
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 19, 2021
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted in response to last Thursday’s story, sharing a link to an NBC News report published last month, and saying:
“We announced a few weeks ago that the White House had worked with the security service to update the policies to ensure that past marijuana use wouldn’t automatically disqualify staff from serving in the White House.”
Psaki emphasized that more individuals would be able to serve at the White House with the update, adding “Of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who had started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy.”
In an additional statement to the Daily Beast, Psaki noted that there were also other factors in the termination of employments in question, without giving further details of each case.