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This paper does not intend to advance The prevalence of cannabis use amongst
a position on the legalization of cannabis. employees, and hence the safety concerns
Rather, it considers the workplace safety it poses, may be surprising to some employ-
implications of legalized cannabis use for ers. The 2017 Canadian Cannabis Survey
both users and nonusers. reported the following statistics: 23 percent
of workers use cannabis; 39 percent of
How Ready Is Your Organization to reported usage occurs within 2 hours of
Manage the Risk That Legalization operating a vehicle; 21.5 percent of work-
of Both Recreational and Medical ers used cannabis to get high before or
Cannabis Use Brings to Your while at work; 39 percent reported having
Workplace? been a passenger in a vehicle operated by a
To fully understand the risks posed by driver under the influence of cannabis; and
cannabis use by workers, employers are 7.7 percent reported using cannabis to get
advised to first develop a basic understand- high before or at work on a daily or weekly
ing of the nature and effects of the drug. basis (Government of Canada 2017.). In
Despite arguments to the contrary, it is not short, Canadian workers are already using
a harmless plant, a wonder drug or a safe cannabis in ways that impact their perfor-
recreational alternative drug. mance at work.
Cannabis is a psychoactive drug, and One question all HR leaders will be dis-
when misused, whether for medical or covering firsthand after the legalization of
recreational purposes, it can cause psycho- cannabis is to what degree cannabis use
logical and physical dependency. Although in the workplace impacts resources (e.g.,
it may be used for medical applications, increase in the number of accommodations,
when used by workers it can have a nega- discipline, support for employees experienc-
tive impact on performance and workplace ing financial stress because of daily costs
safety. incurred on medical cannabis) and dollars
An example of the drug’s effects can be (e.g., increased testing, treatment support).
found in a study that focused on airline Our thesis is employers will need to do more
pilot performance after smoking cannabis. than update their drug and alcohol policies
The study found that only one of nine to be properly prepared to manage canna-
pilots in a test group had awareness of the bis in the workplace, which is the only drug
intoxicating effect of a low-dose cannabis employers must monitor that has both a rec-
joint. Further, the results of testing done reational and a medical use.
on the pilots in a flight simulator showed The purpose of this paper is to provide
that after smoking one cannabis joint all human resources leaders with information
nine pilots exhibited significant impair- to assist in preparing the workplace for
ment of the motor skills required to land legalized cannabis in Canada. Recognizing
an aircraft (Leirer et al. 1991). This study that cannabis is a significantly different
illustrates that not only does cannabis drug than alcohol, safe management of its
consumption cause impairment, but the use by employees will require more exten-
extent and duration of that impairment is sive training and preparation than having
not clearly understood for all users. The employees sign new, updated drug and alco-
safety implications of cannabis use have hol policies. To prepare for the legalization
been confirmed in a number of studies, of cannabis in the workplace, it is recom-
including one that found that cannabis
mended that human resources leaders do
users are twice as likely as nonusers to more than consult lawyers. That typically
have a car accident (The National Academy will include discussions on policies for l egal
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine drug testing, reviewing updated drug and
2017). alcohol policies, validating procedures for