A 2022 FBI policy directive, declassified last week, bars agents from investing in or working for marijuana companies while permitting involvement with hemp and CBD businesses under specific conditions.
Agents may not take outside employment "with any company cultivating, processing, or distributing marijuana, regardless of the legal status of marijuana under local, state, tribal or foreign law," and face parallel investment restrictions. Carve-outs apply to hemp and CBD, federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill during President Donald Trump's first term.
On investments, agents may "invest, without restriction, in companies that maintain a financial interest in the CBD industry" provided products contain no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight—the federal threshold separating hemp from marijuana—and do not promote marijuana for medical or recreational use.
"The determination of whether or not a product promotes marijuana depends on various circumstances, but may be indicated by the product (or advertising for the product) displaying words, images, or associations with marijuana. For example, a product depicting a marijuana leaf on its label is considered promotion of marijuana, and would therefore be impermissible. Employees must consult their [chief division counsel] or the [Office of Integrity and Compliance] to determine whether the company is promoting marijuana."
Outside work or volunteering with CBD businesses requires prior approval through a reporting tool on a case-by-case basis; any request linked to a company whose products depict a marijuana leaf must be denied. The directive also contains an apparent drafting error applying the 0.3 percent threshold to CBD rather than THC. Requests to work at grocery stores selling CBD among other products may be approved. Violations risk suspension or security clearance revocation.
Why the FBI declassified the policy now, or whether it remains in force, is unclear. The federal definition of hemp is set to narrow significantly under a law Trump signed last year, effective November, effectively banning consumable cannabinoid products.
Also in 2022, the FBI determined that recent marijuana or CBD use automatically disqualifies applicants, who must abstain from all cannabinoids for at least one year before applying. A separate rule bars those who used marijuana more than 24 times after turning 18. Then-Director James Comey said in 2014 he wanted to ease the agency's marijuana hiring rules as qualified candidates were being turned away. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
