By Jory Heckman
Federal News Radio

Federal employees, take note: Marijuana use could still cost you your job, even if it’s decriminalized where you live.

The Office of Personnel Management made this point explicitly clear in a memo Tuesday, reminding agency workers that federal laws on marijuana use remain unchanged following a ballot initiative in the District of Columbia that took effect in February. Since marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substance Act, federal employees are prohibited from taking it.

“Drug involvement can raise questions about an individual’s reliability, judgment, and trustworthiness or ability or willingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations, thus indicating his or her employment might not promote the efficiency or protect the integrity of the service,” OPM Director Katherine Archuleta wrote in the memo. “However, the individual’s conduct must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.”

Archuleta said it was necessary to release the memo to answer the growing uncertainty over drug use in states where marijuana is legalized. As it stands, four states — Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon have legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational use; 23 states and D.C. have laws legalizing marijuana for medical use to some degree.

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