With cannabis legislation expected in spring of 2017, private industries are preparing in different ways for the changes that will be coming. We recently covered an iron worker from Alberta who wasn’t being allowed to work while using medical cannabis. In the state of Colorado, one employer was encouraging his employees to take a cannabis smoke break.
The Ontario Trucking Association is holding a series of workshops at the Council Summit on June 22nd. One of the sessions at this event will be on roadside enforcement, workplace safety, and hiring practices as they all relate to legal cannabis. Some people believe that the trucking industry as a whole will benefit from the government issuing pardons for minor offenses such as cannabis possession.
If law enforcement in Canada begins to use roadside cannabis breathalyzers to detect impaired drivers, any business that has vehicles on the road will also be affected, and this could lead to changes regarding individual companies’ drug policy. Some companies will be more lenient with cannabis use, such as the example in Colorado, but others will likely become more strict with what they allow their employees to do on and off the job.