Pubdate: Sat, 05 Nov 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Leah Eichler
Page: B16

WEED IS COMING TO YOUR OFFICE - AND THAT'S OKAY

The popularization of the drug as this country moves toward
legalization may even make its use in the workplace no big deal

Have you ever gone to work high? At one time, this may have been a
question that underachieving high-school students asked each other as
they made their way to their evening shift at Burger King. However, as
the frequency and legitimacy of marijuana usage increases, the
question may start popping up in professional workplaces, too.

It remains a challenge to gauge how many people - either legally or
illegally - use marijuana on the job. In the United States, the
National Institutes of Health found that just less than 10 per cent of
the U.S. adult population reported using marijuana in the past year
and its use among adults had more than doubled over the previous
decade. But that may be only the tip of the iceberg, considering that
approximately 20 million pounds of marijuana is grown in the United
States every year.

In Canada, the projected number of licensed users of medical marijuana
is expected to hit 433,638 by 2024. Once legalization takes place, it
could become commonplace to see people lighting a joint on their way
to work.

So how will companies handle their employees' marijuana usage and
determine whether or not it has a negative impact on their work?
According to George Waggott, a labour-relations and employment-law
partner at McMillan LLP in Toronto, this will be tricky.

For starters, it's challenging to prove an employee's usage, since
unlike with alcohol, a blood test or Breathalyzer test cannot easily
measure it. Even when employees acknowledge they are using marijuana,
the medical community remains conflicted over what constitutes
impairment by THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive ingredient
in marijuana.

"Even in cases where the employee either admits to being high or is
found to be, likely based only on observations as opposed to testing,
there will still potentially be a dispute about whether or not this is
grounds for termination," Mr. Waggott said.

Naturally, the greatest concern for employers revolves around
workplace safety. However, in the work force at large, that
constitutes a fraction of jobs.

So, if you aren't driving a forklift all day, Mr. Waggott said that
the acceptance of usage at work comes down to company policy. While
employees are not normally required to disclose medical conditions,
they can be bound to disclose if there is a specific company policy.
In some cases, the rights of the employer may clash with the
employee's right to medically use the drug.

"As with any other workplace accommodation issue, the key starting
point for the employer is to get proper and current information about
any restrictions which the employee has. In a large number of cases,
the employee does not necessarily even need to use the drug during
working time and indeed they will not be impaired. So the only
accommodation in that scenario is to recognize that if you ever tested
them, there will likely be a positive result," Mr. Waggott said.

If the employee must partake of medical marijuana during working
hours, the obligation of the employer may be to provide adequate time
off - either paid or unpaid - as they would for a medical
appointment.

For the most part, Mr. Waggott said the majority of employers he has
worked with have shown great deference to the rights of the users. The
tricky part comes down to how much or how little the use of medical
marijuana will negatively affect the employee's work.

If employees use the drug responsibly, there really shouldn't be any
issue, argued Neil Closner, chief executive officer of Toronto-based
MedReleaf Corp., the largest licensed producer of medical cannabis in
Canada. Additionally, he said companies such as his own offer a
variety of cannabis products that contain almost no THC.

"MedReleaf has a small number of staff who have legitimate need for
cannabis and we happily accommodate them," Mr. Closner said, adding
that in a few months, his company will be introducing health-insurance
coverage for medical cannabis as part of its employee-benefit plan.

The drug, he argued, is here to stay, so companies and employers may
as well start getting used to it.

Indeed, the popularization of the drug as Canada moves toward
legalization may even make its use in the workplace no big deal.

"I may be in a minority on this, but I think legalization of marijuana
will not impact workplace use. In fact, by removing the stigma of
illegality, we may even see a more responsible approach," Mr. Waggott
said.

"People know that being drunk at work is bad. They arguably did not
know that 30 years ago, but times have changed, and so have the
accepted societal norms. Legalizing marijuana is likely going to
foster something similar - just because you can do it when you want
does not mean you should always do it," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt