Fox’s first appearance: Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford is calling for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to reverse its policy on past marijuana use for Border Patrol recruits. .
In a letter sent Sunday to Troy A. Miller, the senior official who serves as CBP director, Republicans urged him to “rescind this policy and reinstate the two-year historical record regarding marijuana use among Border Patrol agents.” I asked for it.
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Lankford sounded the alarm about what he called the Border Patrol’s lax policy on drug use. (Getty Images)
He denounced the cuts to marijuana policy as “undermining the safety and integrity of Border Patrol agents and directly contradicting the Border Patrol’s mission to protect our country from illegal drugs.”
CBP’s current policy regarding past drug use prohibits applicants from using marijuana “within 90 days prior to applying for employment with CBP.” It is unclear when this change was implemented. The senator’s office indicated that the policy shift from two years to 90 days took place within the past few months.
CBP did not provide comment to Fox News Digital by press time.
Lankford noted that his staff was briefed on the policy modifications by officials last month. He said CBP cited “the confusion of federal and state laws in states where marijuana has been legalized” in justifying the change.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 24 states, two territories and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws regulating cannabis for non-medical or adult use. NCSL data updated on November 8, 2023.
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Lankford noted that CBP remains a federal agency and therefore “must ensure that its personnel comply with federal law regarding the illegal or prohibited use of controlled substances.”
Citing his position as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Government Affairs and Border Control, he noted that the organization “retains jurisdiction over federal employment and border control.”
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Many states across the country have legalized marijuana. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The Republican senator also wrote that CBP briefing officials noted that recruits who reveal past marijuana use on polygraph tests also frequently admit to “other disqualifying criminal conduct.” Lankford said the information was “not surprising.”
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“The Border Patrol’s primary mission is to stop the flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants across the border,” he said. He claims this has been curtailed by policy changes, increasing the likelihood that recruits “paid off to transnational criminal organizations.”
Given this possibility, Lankford argued that lowering the threshold for past marijuana use in recruits would be “directly inconsistent” with the agency’s mission and also raise “safety and integrity issues.”
