FBI Director James Comey announced that the bureau may reconsider their marijuana policy when recruiting new hires and job applicants, NBC News reported.
During a conference with New York lawyers on Monday, Comey explained that individuals equipped with knowledge to fight cybercrime happen to enjoy smoking pot every now and then.
"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, according to The Wall Street Journal.
One of the attendees reportedly told Comey about a friend who decided against applying for a position at the FBI due to their drug policy.
"He should go ahead and apply," Comey told them.
The FBI has not publicly commented on the director's remarks.
Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, medical marijuana is legal in 21 states and recreational marijuana has been legalized in Colorado and Washington.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department filed charges against five Chinese hackers accused of stealing intelligence from American companies including U.S. Steel, Alcoa, and Westinghouse.
"For too long, the Chinese government has blatantly sought to use cyber-espionage to obtain economic advantage for its state-owned industries," Comey told NBC on Monday.
On the same day, officials also announced the arrest of 97 people accused of using software to spy on people's computer activity and take control of them.
The U.S. has long suspected that the Chinese government was spying on and attempting to obtain secrets from U.S. corporations.
"Chinese actors are the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage," the U.S.-based Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive said in a 2011 report according to NBC News.
