What will legal marijuana mean for safety sensitive jobs and drug testing?

As everyone is aware Canada plans on making recreational marijuana use legal by July 2018. However as hard as I try, I cannot find any info about how this will affect current rules and regulations regarding it's use by people who hold jobs that are "safety sensitive" and are required to submit to drug testing as a condition of employment.

The only articles I can find are about medicinal use at work or on the job recreational use. But what I am trying to find out, is can a worker be tested and suspended or fired for testing positive for marijuana after recreational marijuana is legalized if the worker is only using marijuana off company premises while not on company time?

Can companies say you are never allowed to use marijuana (in Canada) once it becomes legal?

Some companies already get rid of cigarette smokers and won't hire smokers so I imagine they can do the same with pot smokers too if they want. Like a lot of the oil companies in Alberta here they had to back off on testing as most of their best rig-pigs toked off the clock and finding good guys was hard to do. Not so busy now so they can afford to be choosier about who they employ.

Just another aspect of re-legalization that will have to be fought over in the courts making the lawyers richer yet.

OldMedUser said:

Some companies already get rid of cigarette smokers and won't hire smokers so I imagine they can do the same with pot smokers too if they want. Like a lot of the oil companies in Alberta here they had to back off on testing as most of their best rig-pigs toked off the clock and finding good guys was hard to do. Not so busy now so they can afford to be choosier about who they employ.

Just another aspect of re-legalization that will have to be fought over in the courts making the lawyers richer yet.

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Yeah the oil patch is a dying industry here. I worked everything from lease hand to drilling consultant over the past 20 years. Enform, Alberta's leading oilfield training center is pushing the government to allow oil companies to continue using a positive thc drug test as a reason not to hire new employees and suspend or fire existing employees even after marijuana becomes legal. It pisses me off how the corporate world thinks they can dictate what we do in our personal lives.

Same thing south of the border. The feds aren't hard to understand; hell no, no way, prescription or not, no.

But private employers also will fire you if you test positive while employed, and won't hire you in a pre-employment screen if you test positive.

Again, it doesn't matter whether or not you have a prescription. They just say no......

greg nr said:

Same thing south of the border. The feds aren't hard to understand; hell no, no way, prescription or not, no.

But private employers also will fire you if you test positive while employed, and won't hire you in a pre-employment screen if you test positive.

Again, it doesn't matter whether or not you have a prescription. They just say no......

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It's unfortunate that even in legal states, all a company has to do to persecute marijuana users is follow Federal laws as marijuana is still an illegal drug nation wide at the federal level in the U.S..

However in Canada it will be 100% legal at all levels of government nation wide but corporations don't care and want the right to disregard the law to suit their ass backward views on marijuana use. But I can go home drink myself into a stupor, beat my wife, kick my dog and the corporations don't give a shit about that. It's fucked up and I think the fight won't be over for a long time even after full legalization.

I worked as a water hauler for 10 years and always drove other guys trucks as a contractor so they never tested me. I'd be having a toke while filling the rig tank and listening to good tunes in the cab.

I'd park the truck, shut off the motor and climb up on the roof to smoke a bowl while watching and listening to the northern lights in the middle of nowhere. The far north is pretty trippy even without the pot.

Can't work no more so just work for myself growing pot and would never get myself tested as I know what the results will show.

Even worse is the new impaired driving laws our gov't is trying to push through now. Be able to demand a test even if there is no hint of impairment or reasonable cause. Talk about Big Brotherism that our current dictator is trying to force on us.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-impaired-driving-changes-1.4069889

OldMedUser said:

I'd park the truck, shut off the motor and climb up on the roof to smoke a bowl while watching and listening to the northern lights in the middle of nowhere. The far north is pretty trippy even without the pot.

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Check out the northern lights tonight, they are supposed to really be rocking tonight.

Heard about that and hoping for clear skies tonight but not looking good atm.

Every evening the big clouds roll in and the thunderstorms start scaring my 16 year old dog half to death. lol

He went and hid down in the basement a few days ago and we had to carry his 100lb ass back up the stairs as he can't do stairs very well any more. Tried some hi-CBD oil on a Milk Bone but that didn't seem to help after a few days of dosing him with it.

I've seen lots of pretty spectacular northern lights when working up near the territories so not too worried if I miss them tonight.

One thing I found in my employment tenure is the jobs I was tested for were basically slave labor type jobs. I figure when the employer sees someone who gives up their rights to get the job, then they can treat them however they want. I find it amazing how many people actually believe in drug testing. I always tried to avoid jobs that drug tested. I would even call their hypocrisy out on it as they let people who smoke tobacco and drink alcohol on their payroll. In any case, out of the few I did take, I never failed one. Also, you never know what they are really checking for in a "drug" test.

Most employers, other than the government, can fire you with no reason given. When you are trading your time for money, your time belongs to the employer and not you. OldMedUser did the right thing. He went into his own business. I have ridden with many people who were either drinking, or had used some type of substance and were able to drive just fine. Some even drove better under the influence of the substance.

ThcGuy said:

Can companies say you are never allowed to use marijuana (in Canada) once it becomes legal?

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In a word, yes.

Alcohol is legal, yet you're not permitted to work drunk, are you?

Firearms are legal, but most employers wouldn't allow you to walk around the office with an AK47.

Just because something is legal for your personal use doesn't mean anybody else has to adopt it.

TacoMac said:

In a word, yes.

Alcohol is legal, yet you're not permitted to work drunk, are you?

Firearms are legal, but most employers wouldn't allow you to walk around the office with an AK47.

Just because something is legal for your personal use doesn't mean anybody else has to adopt it.

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Who said anything about doing it at work?

I can have a beer with my steak on the weekend that I shot the week before with my gun and nobody can do anything about that.

What gives them the right to fire someone for testing positive for THC when it becomes legal across the country next year?

I'm not saying that it should be allowed at the workplace but in your off hours, should they be able to stop you from partaking in a completely legal activity?

TacoMac said:

In a word, yes.

Alcohol is legal, yet you're not permitted to work drunk, are you?

Firearms are legal, but most employers wouldn't allow you to walk around the office with an AK47.

Just because something is legal for your personal use doesn't mean anybody else has to adopt it.

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Also fully automatic guns like AK47's are illegal in Canada period. Nobody can have them anywhere.

ThcGuy said:

What gives them the right to fire someone for testing positive for THC when it becomes legal across the country next year?

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Because it's their company, that's why.

Marijuana stays in your system a good deal longer than alcohol does. So, if you drink that beer, by the time you go to work the next day, it's gone. If they were to test you for alcohol, you would have none in your system. So, by that rational, anything that you were to do wrong (especially something that got someone hurt or caused damage) could not be attributed to alcohol or you use of it.

But marijuana doesn't work that way. Depending on how much you smoke, it can stay in your system for days. That opens a company up for liability when you do something wrong that DOES cause harm or damage and you get tested and test positive for marijuana.

It's not up to a company to take all the risk because of something you want to do.

It is up to you to do whatever the company requires of you in order to work for them.

You don't like it, don't work. It's that simple.

TacoMac said:

Because it's their company, that's why.

Marijuana stays in your system a good deal longer than alcohol does. So, if you drink that beer, by the time you go to work the next day, it's gone. If they were to test you for alcohol, you would have none in your system. So, by that rational, anything that you were to do wrong (especially something that got someone hurt or caused damage) could not be attributed to alcohol or you use of it.

But marijuana doesn't work that way. Depending on how much you smoke, it can stay in your system for days. That opens a company up for liability when you do something wrong that DOES cause harm or damage and you get tested and test positive for marijuana.

It's not up to a company to take all the risk because of something you want to do.

It is up to you to do whatever the company requires of you in order to work for them.

You don't like it, don't work. It's that simple.

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So are you trying to say that someone who smokes a joint on a Saturday night out is still impaired a week later if they test positive for THC?

ThcGuy said:

So are you trying to say that someone who smokes a joint on a Saturday night out is still impaired a week later if they test positive for THC?

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Being impaired has nothing to do with it. Liability does.

The law isn't going to care if you weren't stoned when you ran your forklift over a guy and killed him. All they're going to care about is that you had THC in your system.

That's it. Case closed. The company gets sued clear to Mars and WILL lose. Guaranteed.

No company in its right mind is going to take that chance. That's all there is to it.

It's not even neccesarily the companies worked for that cares about the pot. The insurance companies mandate these decisions mostly.

TacoMac said:

Being impaired has nothing to do with it. Liability does.

The law isn't going to care if you weren't stoned when you ran your forklift over a guy and killed him. All they're going to care about is that you had THC in your system.

That's it. Case closed. The company gets sued clear to Mars and WILL lose. Guaranteed.

No company in its right mind is going to take that chance. That's all there is to it.

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Let me clarify this for you, I live in Canada and in Canada our Federal government is legalizing marijuana across the entire country. It's not going to be like the half assed legalization that some states in the US are allowing where it is legal at the State level but still illegal at the federal level. Having it illegal federally allows employers continue following federal regulations and treat cannabis users like criminals and drug abusers.

It is going to be a completely different system in Canada. Cannabis is going to be legal federally across the entire country.

In the case of someone killing a coworker with a fork lift the RCMP (Canadian Police) would request a blood test to prove impairment not a urine test. THC is only detectable in blood for a very short time after cannabis use, I'm talking hours not days or weeks like a urine test. Therefore it would be no different than alcohol in that aspect.

However there are certain industries in Canada like the oilfield for instance that want to keep urine testing for THC after it becomes legal. But they will not be allowed to do this anymore because it will be against the Canadian charter of human rights (basically meaning it's none of their business according to the Canadian courts). These companies in industries like the oilfield are currently petitioning parliament to give them an exemption to allow them to maintain their complete ban on THC and allow them to discipline workers for a positive test (It's not going well for them currently).

When I started this thread I was asking if these companies would be allowed to continue urine testing for THC for employees and potential new hires and since then I have found out that they won't.

They can at most do a mouth swab or blood tests to prove impairment (like alcohol) but they will no longer be allowed to urine test for THC after July 01, 2018 because it will be a legal substance and considered discrimination according to Canadian law.

When all your corporations start getting sued for endless millions of dollars and they all go bankrupt because they knowingly let people who use mind impairing drugs work for them with complete autonomy and ruin the lives of others with their mistakes, I'll remember you said that.

TacoMac said:

When all your corporations start getting sued for endless millions of dollars and they all go bankrupt because they knowingly let people who use mind impairing drugs work for them with complete autonomy and ruin the lives of others with their mistakes, I'll remember you said that.

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It will be treated like alcohol and you will be tested for impairment not prior use. If you are not impaired then at the time of an accident then you cannot be charged or sued.

ThcGuy said:

It will be treated like alcohol and you will be tested for impairment not prior use. If you are not impaired then at the time of an accident then you cannot be charged or sued.

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The big problem is pot is about the only drug that stays so long in your system. Crack heads test clean in 48 hours ans so do most other junkies. Or boozers.

If you have a script for opiods and test for opiods then you are good to go because it's an doctor prescribed medication. My pot is doctor prescribed but I'd be canned if I fail a test for pot. WTF!

The BS of it is is that those drug tests don't pick up THC. They pick up the metabolites of THC that get stored in the fat cells of your body and slowly leach out into your blood then get excreted by your kidneys into your urine a bit at a time over weeks or even months depending on the rate of your usage and the amount of body fat you pack around. A skinny old fart like me that smokes little but uses a lot of edibles can be clean in a couple weeks. My lard-ass buddy that smokes a few joints a month can test positive for 3 or 4 months.

They keep trying to equate pot to alcohol when it comes to impairment and it's like comparing apples to oranges. Totally different things. If you blow .08 you got a buzz from booze that is scientifically proven to cause impairment in a smaller man like myself or my lard-ass buddy. There's nothing like it to test for pot smokers. Two small hits in my pipe has me almost wasted where plenty of guys my size can bogart a big fattie of the same pot and be barely feeling it. I've been smoking pot just shy of 50 years and have almost no tolerance. Maybe because I have at least 7 or 8 strains plush hash, kief, cocobudder, BHO etc at hand all the time I never build up enough tolerance I don't know. About 75% of the pot I consume is cocobudder as it works way better for me than smoked pot to help my arthritis and depression.

When I was working in the oil patch they had saliva test strips that they used in cases where maybe the boss walked round the corner and caught you blasting a J with a buddy. It just indicated the presence of THC and if tested a couple hours later would be negative. That's the kind of test the cops should be using like the hand-held breathalyzer to see if you've done pot recently then if that is positive they send you for further testing like blood. Speaking of blood I'm off to the clinic soon to donate my 47th pint so go help your fellow man and give a pint as often as you can. You will feel better both physically and spiritually knowing that you just wiped out a lot of minor sins off St. Peter's list! 3 bears after a donation will make you legless!

In twenty years they will have it all figured out but I'll be pushing up pot plants long before then. Just happy to smoke a legal joint before I cash in my chips. Don't grind me up for fertilizer if you want to grow organic!