Senate Drops Bid to Let Spy Agencies Hire Former Marijuana Users

WASHINGTON—U.S. lawmakers have dropped an effort to permit spy agencies to hire former marijuana users over opposition from at least a pair of Republican senators, according to people familiar with the matter.

A measure that would have prohibited agencies from disqualifying job candidates solely based on prior marijuana use had been included in the annual intelligence authorization act that funds the nation’s intelligence community, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the overall bill unanimously in a closed-door vote earlier this year, and the specific marijuana provision had been adopted on a bipartisan basis.