While it is clear there is a buzz about the imminent legalization of marijuana, Denis Mahoney says there are many important questions about how the new laws will affect workplaces.
The lawyer from McInnes Cooper discussed the issue as guest speaker at a Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade luncheon Wednesday.
Mahoney said, while there may be some similarities, workplace policies involving marijuana will need to be treated differently than cigarettes or alcohol.
Mahoney said the rush to get cannabis legislation on the books at both the federal and provincial levels has not given due consideration to the ramifications for workplaces.
“When government stepped off the edge of that wharf and said, ‘here’s the framework for the new legislation,’ it did not have an occupational perspective,” said Mahoney.
Complicating matters is the fact science and technology have not yet come up with an effective method that can determine if someone is impaired by cannabis. Mahoney said that can create health and safety, not to mention human resources, issues that workplace supervisors may not be trained or equipped to deal with.
Ensuring the safety of workers and anyone else who may be in the vicinity of any workplace will have to be paramount, he added.
“THC (the intoxicating substance in cannabis) is still as big a mystery for many of us and that uncertainty has created untold amounts of risks for all of us,” said Mahoney. “Even though it’s clear the legislation is coming, to level the playing field and ensure safe working places, the regulations need to catch up to balance the need for greater safety arising from the uncertainty associated with THC and cannabis.”
Mahoney said businesses will have to revisit and revise more than just their drug and alcohol or workplace safety policies. The impacts could also be felt on policies surrounding employees who drive or travel and how disabilities involving the use of medically authorized marijuana are managed.
The issue will become a part of any collective bargaining done by unions and benefits packages offered to employees. The cost of dealing with all of the associated issues will have to be accounted for in budgets.
Mahoney urged the business community to use its voice to urge their government representatives to push for changes to cannabis legislation that do address the various implications for the workplace.
