A drug test cost a DEA agent his job. He sued and got it back.

The Drug Enforcement Administration deemed Anthony L. Armor an “outstanding” special agent on the front lines of the nation's opioid epidemic. But in 2019, a routine drug test derailed his career.

Months earlier, Mr. Armor said he had started using CBD oil, which is derived from hemp, to treat chronic pain because he considered it safer than the highly addictive painkillers that were the focus of his criminal investigation.

His failed drug test prompted the government to fire him, setting off a protracted lawsuit that chronicled the growing pains of a flourishes and is largely unregulated CBD industry.

Last week Mr. won. Armor is his business. In a rare move, the Justice Department agreed to reinstate him as a special agent, pay some back pay, cover his legal fees and restore his pension eligibility.

“I am excited to join DEA again,” said the 49-year-old Mr. Armour, who joined the agency in 2004 and returns to the Houston office on Monday. “I hope to complete my career with DEA ​​by helping its mission take dangerous drugs like fentanyl off the streets.”

The legal settlement between Mr. Armor and the Justice Department, which has not previously been reported, comes amid a broad reexamination of the dangers and therapeutic value of cannabis.

Newly released documents show the Biden administration is reconsidering the legal and regulatory status of cannabis following a review by federal scientists that concluded the plant's medicinal potential warrants its removal from the most restrictive drug category.

Cannabis use in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years 24 states legalized recreational marijuana and 38 approved of its medicinal use.

An important milestone in the increasingly tolerant landscape came in 2018, when Congress legalized it CBD as part of the Farm Bill. It allowed CBD products that contained less than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana.

Experts from the World Health Organization released a report in June 2018 called CBD a generally safe and promising drug.

In recent years, CBD has become a multi-billion dollar industry targeting people with chronic pain, insomnia, addiction and anxiety. It's infused with tinctures taken orally, gummies, sparkling sodas, bath salts, massage oils, coffee, makeup, and even dog treats.

As its appeal exploded, thorny issues arose. After CBD became legal under federal law, it remained illegal in several states, leaving CBD entrepreneurs in legal trouble. In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration found that several products sold as containing CBD more than trace amounts of THC. By then, the unreliability of CBD product labels had already become apparent to some consumers as they failed drug tests.

Among them was Mr. Armor, who has struggled with chronic pain for years. He has said he was injured as a college football player and later at work, including in a traffic accident during a surveillance operation that left him with an acute neck sprain and severe back pain.

After the crash in 2016, Mr. Armor said he considered legally using prescription opioids, but chose not to because he had seen the dangers of opioid addiction firsthand. In early 2019, he ordered a vaporizer and CBD tinctures – which are taken orally – from an online store he considered reliable. The products eased his pain, Mr. Armor said, and he believed he had no reason to think he was taking a risk.

Under DEA policy, employees who have used illegal drugs are fired “without extreme circumstances.”

After a routine drug test came back positive for marijuana a few months later, he told regulators he had used CBD and turned the products over to investigators. Lab tests showed two of them contained less than 0.3 percent THC, but one had a slightly elevated level: 0.35 percent, which was within the test's 0.08 percent margin of error, according to Mr. Armor.

A short time later, a DEA official in Houston warned employees to avoid CBD products, warning that drug tests could not reliably distinguish between CBD and regular marijuana, records show.

“Please do not create problems for yourself by using this snake oil,” the official, Will R. Glaspy, wrote in a memo emailed to staff members.

In 2020, Mr. Armor was fired.

In a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination, Matthew C. Zorn, Mr. Armour's attorney, argued that his client had not intentionally used marijuana, that the DEA had no explicit rules regarding CBD use by employees and that termination was a would have been too severe a punishment.

“Anthony's case reminds us that cannabis laws are not always meaningful and can be counterproductive,” said Mr. Zorn.

In a legal filing, the Justice Department acknowledged that there was no evidence that Mr. Armor intentionally broke the law. But the government argued that Mr. Armor should have known that CBD use could lead to a positive drug test.

“Mr. Armor was an excellent DEA agent when he took a gamble in 2019,” the Justice Department wrote in a legal brief submitted to a federal appeals court last year. “This was an unfortunate end to a long and productive career in federal law enforcement. But DEA is charged with enforcing our nation's drug laws, and federal employees are responsible for what they put into their bodies.”

Last September, Mr. Armor testified before Congress as lawmakers considered a bill that would have loosened cannabis use rules for federal employees. He argued that the federal government's strict enforcement of cannabis regulations was shortsighted.

“No one should have to choose between suffering pain and serving our country.” he said.

Earlier this month, the agency agreed to reinstate Mr. Armor and pay him $470,000 in back pay and legal fees, according to a copy of the settlement, which The New York Times obtained from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a group that advocates for broader legalization.

It is not clear why the government changed course. A DEA spokeswoman declined to comment on the case. An agency bulletin issued to employees in 2021 does not outright ban the use of CBD products. But it warns that the fact they can be purchased legally is “no defense against” a positive drug test.

For his part, Mr. Armor says he continues to see value in using CBD for pain management. When he returned to work, he said, “I'm going to consult a medical professional about my options.”