I am writing this because I am being treated poorly by the company that I work for because I have a prescription for marijuana, and I think this is an important issue of discrimination that people will face as more and more prescriptions are given out to the blue collar working people of Canada.
I work as a Journeyman Welder in a safety-sensitive position at a mine in Saskatchewan. I am a member of a union at my workplace.
Obtaining a prescription for medical marijuana in Saskatchewan is a very tough thing to do because any doctors I or others I know, had talked to, will just simply say that they know nothing about it and don't prescribe it. I decided to try getting a prescription through Medical Marijuana Services.ca and was successful.
I had been having some personal problems for quite sometime now. I suffer from cluster headaches, as well as, anxiety and sleep disorder. I had not smoked marijuana for about 8 years previous to February 2014 when I had another cycle of acute Cluster Headaches start. My cycles would usually last for 3-6 weeks, waking me roughly 2 hours after I would fall asleep for the evening. The pain would be significant and quickly ramp up within a hour to an excruciating point where I would cry and bang my head into the floor hoping it would stop. I was reading on a Cluster Headache webforum, that some people had relief when smoking marijuana for their headaches, so I decided to give it a try. I acquired some black market marijuana one day and pre rolled a joint that evening and went to bed. I woke up 2 hours later and with the onset of a headache I lit my joint and had about 3 puffs. The headache subsided within an hour and by the 6th day, my cycle was stopped. I thought it was a miracle to have relief from such intense pain in so little time! I knew I had other issues with the anxiety, stress and sleep issues that after researching online and watching countless documentaries and videos, I came to the conclusion that marijuana could be right for me.
I received my marijuana prescription in September 2014 and chose to use Tilray as my licensed producer. I immediately started noticing positive effects from taking marijuana as my mood had started to improve and my sleep had improved to the point where I felt motivated and energized when I awoke each morning. I started to appreciate the smaller things in life and becoming more tolerant of conflicts and issues that used to dwell on me in the past, were just not dragging me down anymore.In November of 2014 I was given some legal advice that I should probably disclose my prescription to the Occupational Health Nurse at my work. It would be best to let them know ahead of time instead of pulling out my prescription at the 11th hour. I thought it may be a wise choice and it would be confidential anyway, so I went in to the nurse's office one day and told the nurse about the prescription I was taking. She said she would need to look into this issue to make sure it was ok. A week or so later, I was called into the nurse's office and told that maybe it would be best if I went off on a short term disability claim until all the details were sorted out surrounding my marijuana prescription.
My workplace has a Drug Policy and also uses drug sniffing dogs which show up unannounced to violate workers Section 8 Charter Rights every once and a while. I told the nurse that the prescribing doctor said that I was not to operate a vehicle for 4 hours after using marijuana. I said that I use marijuana in the evenings when after work and that there is roughly 12 hours (including a good nights rest) before I show up for my next shift and I would not be impaired. She said that it would just be best if I went off, so I agreed and went home early on November 20, 2014.
That afternoon. I was able to get a doctor's appointment so that I could get my short term disability forms filled out. I told the doctor that I come home from work and between the hours of 6:30 and 8pm I would fill my Solo Vaporizer with marijuana and take 3 inhalations from it. I told him that I was not to operate a vehicle for 4 hours after that but was not impaired for my daily shifts and felt fine each morning. He agreed that I would not be impaired for work and wrote on my short term disability forms that I have "No Restrictions" and am able to perform my duties of my job. The forms were faxed into my benefits provider for assessment and I would find out in a few days what was to happen.
I work as a Journeyman Welder in a safety-sensitive position at a mine in Saskatchewan. I am a member of a union at my workplace.
Obtaining a prescription for medical marijuana in Saskatchewan is a very tough thing to do because any doctors I or others I know, had talked to, will just simply say that they know nothing about it and don't prescribe it. I decided to try getting a prescription through Medical Marijuana Services.ca and was successful.
I had been having some personal problems for quite sometime now. I suffer from cluster headaches, as well as, anxiety and sleep disorder. I had not smoked marijuana for about 8 years previous to February 2014 when I had another cycle of acute Cluster Headaches start. My cycles would usually last for 3-6 weeks, waking me roughly 2 hours after I would fall asleep for the evening. The pain would be significant and quickly ramp up within a hour to an excruciating point where I would cry and bang my head into the floor hoping it would stop. I was reading on a Cluster Headache webforum, that some people had relief when smoking marijuana for their headaches, so I decided to give it a try. I acquired some black market marijuana one day and pre rolled a joint that evening and went to bed. I woke up 2 hours later and with the onset of a headache I lit my joint and had about 3 puffs. The headache subsided within an hour and by the 6th day, my cycle was stopped. I thought it was a miracle to have relief from such intense pain in so little time! I knew I had other issues with the anxiety, stress and sleep issues that after researching online and watching countless documentaries and videos, I came to the conclusion that marijuana could be right for me.
I received my marijuana prescription in September 2014 and chose to use Tilray as my licensed producer. I immediately started noticing positive effects from taking marijuana as my mood had started to improve and my sleep had improved to the point where I felt motivated and energized when I awoke each morning. I started to appreciate the smaller things in life and becoming more tolerant of conflicts and issues that used to dwell on me in the past, were just not dragging me down anymore.In November of 2014 I was given some legal advice that I should probably disclose my prescription to the Occupational Health Nurse at my work. It would be best to let them know ahead of time instead of pulling out my prescription at the 11th hour. I thought it may be a wise choice and it would be confidential anyway, so I went in to the nurse's office one day and told the nurse about the prescription I was taking. She said she would need to look into this issue to make sure it was ok. A week or so later, I was called into the nurse's office and told that maybe it would be best if I went off on a short term disability claim until all the details were sorted out surrounding my marijuana prescription.
My workplace has a Drug Policy and also uses drug sniffing dogs which show up unannounced to violate workers Section 8 Charter Rights every once and a while. I told the nurse that the prescribing doctor said that I was not to operate a vehicle for 4 hours after using marijuana. I said that I use marijuana in the evenings when after work and that there is roughly 12 hours (including a good nights rest) before I show up for my next shift and I would not be impaired. She said that it would just be best if I went off, so I agreed and went home early on November 20, 2014.
That afternoon. I was able to get a doctor's appointment so that I could get my short term disability forms filled out. I told the doctor that I come home from work and between the hours of 6:30 and 8pm I would fill my Solo Vaporizer with marijuana and take 3 inhalations from it. I told him that I was not to operate a vehicle for 4 hours after that but was not impaired for my daily shifts and felt fine each morning. He agreed that I would not be impaired for work and wrote on my short term disability forms that I have "No Restrictions" and am able to perform my duties of my job. The forms were faxed into my benefits provider for assessment and I would find out in a few days what was to happen.
I was contacted a few days later telling me that my benefits provider had denied my claim because I was able to return to work with no restrictions according to my doctors recommendations. My work said that even though my doctor had recommended the return to work, they would still keep me off until levels of upper management could discuss the issue. I was currently being kept off work without pay for no reason. The Vice President of our local union had to eventually approach the General Manager and ask that I be paid. He said that even people that test positive for illegal drugs are paid, why am I not being paid when I have a prescription. The manager eventually got the ball rolling and I was paid my lost time.
I finally received a call from the Human Resources manager on December 23, 2014. He said that upper management had discussed and consulted with physicians and experts and they cannot allow me to work at the mine site while I am impaired by my prescription. He said that the company Drug Policy would be violated, as well as, the Saskatchewan Mines Regulations 2003, which states:
Substance Impairment Prohibited
21 An employer or contractor must take all reasonable steps to ensure that no person whose ability to work safely is impaired by alcohol, any drug or any other substance is allowed to work at a mine.
He told me I had 2 options:
1) stay on the marijuana prescription and I would be put on a unpaid, unapproved leave of absence until I quit taking marijuana and test under the levels outlined in their Drug policy (50ng/mL).
2) switch to a different prescription which would cause no impairment. Any adjustment times to build tolerance to the new medication would be covered under short term disability and I would continue to receive pay.
I told him that I am not impaired according to time ratios specified by Health Canada and the Canadian College of Family Physicians. He told me that the levels set in their policy constitute impairment (even though in their policy it says that the levels do NOT constitute impairment) and that if I could not test under them while on the marijuana prescription then they will not allow me on site. So basically I have to either get rid of my marijuana prescription or apply for welfare because my employer will not allow me to work for another employer while on a leave.
So I basically only have one option, to cancel my marijuana prescription and give my employer proof of that cancellation, go in and do a drug test until it is at the acceptable limits for the employer's drug policy and get my doctor to sign off saying I am fit for duty. I also have to now reluctantly get a different prescription for my medical conditions that have caused side effects. I have never experienced any ill side effects from my marijuana prescription. I was told I would be covered up to January 1, 2015. My employer also told me they have the right to drug test me when I return to work.I plan to either fight this discrimination case through a Human Rights Tribunal or the Arbitration process with my union. I believe this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed in Canada because the people of Canada should not have a corporation dictate what medication or medical care they choose when it is proven to be safe and legal in Canada.
Please excuse the formatting, I have no idea why my paragraphs were formatted this way?
Please excuse the formatting, I have no idea why my paragraphs were formatted this way?
