Weed
. Apparently marijuana is the key to a bright, cyber crime-fighting future for the FBI, according to statements made on Monday by FBI Director James B. Comey at the annual White Collar Crime Institute held at the New York City Bar Association in Manhattan.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Congress has authorized the FBI to add 2,000 employees, with many of them to be assigned to cyber crimes, “a growing priority for the agency.” However, it would appear that many “hackers” interested in joining the ranks of the FBI are also marijuana aficionados.
“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Comey said. Without revealing how many of prospective computer prodigies looking to land an FBI gig are also interested in smoking pot in their free time, Comey apparently said that the agency was “grappling with the question right now” of how to amend the FBI’s marijuana policies.
The FBI, according to its own rules and regulations, can’t hire anybody who has smoked pot in the last three years. But Comey advised a person who avoided applying for a job with the agency because of this rule to “go ahead and apply.”
Comey has also praised the work done by the FBI against white-collar crime, revealing that the agency has 1,300 agents working on 10,700 cases nationwide. He added that the number of corporate fraud cases at the FBI jumped 65% since 2008.
