Status of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cannabis Act

• Author: Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, First Reference Managing Editor
• Date: July 12, 2018

When legalization of cannabis comes into effect in Canada, which is scheduled for October 17, 2018, marijuana will no longer be listed as a controlled substance under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act and the consumption and incidental possession will no longer be a crime under Canada’s Criminal Code.

Marijuana or Cannabis?
Cannabis is the common name for a hemp plant belonging to the genus Cannabis. “Cannabis” is the term preferred by Canada’s federal government and the scientific sector.

“Cannabis” refers to the plant Cannabis sativa and contains chemical substances such as “cannabinoids”. “Cannaboids” are made and stored in the plant’s trichomes (tiny, clear hairs that stick out from the flowers and leaves of the plant) and affect cell receptors in the human brain and body, which can change how those cells behave and communicate with each other. The leaves and cannabinoids of cannabis plants contain almost 500 distinct compounds, the principal ones being delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆ 9-THC or THC), cannabidiol and cannabinol. Of these compounds, THC is responsible for many, if not most, of the euphoric and addictive effects of cannabis.

“Marijuana” is a common term used by the public, and most often used in reference to the dried flowers and leaves of the cannabis plant. Marijuana is a slang term and thus not scientifically precise.

However, because marijuana is the commonly used term, we will use the terms cannabis and marijuana interchangeably.

Cannabis is most often inhaled as smoke as a dried herbal product, but it can also be vaporized and made into a variety of products, including:

• Dried herbal material (i.e., “marijuana”)
• Oil (e.g., “hash oil”)
• Hash (i.e., compressed resin)
• Concentrates (e.g., “shatter”)
• Foods and beverages containing extracts of cannabis (i.e., “edibles”)

Cannabis can also be ingested in pill form or absorbed through the skin via creams, salves or skin patches.

Impact and Concerns

Many expect the recreational use of marijuana to rise as a result and be a health, safety and workplace concern.

To illustrate, according to the World Health Organization, marijuana use can have both short-and long-term effects. In the short term, cannabis use can impair cognitive functioning and motor coordination, which can interfere with driving and increase the risk for injuries more generally. A minority of first-time users may experience anxiety and psychotic symptoms. Acute exposure may also lead to heart attack and stroke in some at-risk individuals. Long-term use can result in cannabis abuse or dependence in regular users. Long-term cannabis use may also play a role in the development of a broad range of other health conditions, such as mental illness, respiratory diseases, cancer and cardiovascular disease; however, there is limited or inconclusive evidence in these areas (Source: World Health Organization, The health and social effects of non-medical cannabis use, 2016).

According to the Conference Board of Canada report Blazing the Trail: What the Legalization of Cannabis Means for Canadian Employers, 52 percent of employers are concerned about how legalization of recreational cannabis will impact the workplace.

The biggest concerns are:

• Workplace safety-especially in safety sensitive roles
• Impairment or intoxication
• Increased use of cannabis-both inside and outside the workplace
• Workplace drug testing for impairment
• Increased accommodation needs and costs for addiction and prescribed use, and
• Productivity, motivation, absenteeism, presenteeism and employee performance

The report states that the concerns are justified given the uncertainties and lack of evidence when it comes to evaluating impairment from cannabis use. Compared to alcohol, the effects of THC on the human body are different and less predictable, and impairment due to cannabis use is more difficult to establish.
For example, a frequent cannabis user might have recently ingested the drug, and have more than 5 nG/mL of THC in his or her bloodstream, but not be impaired (Phillips and others; Hartman and Huestis; Marijuana in the Workplace, The Conference Board of Canada, ibid.)

While the intoxicating effects of alcohol have been studied for decades, relatively little research has been done on measuring the effects of cannabis in proportion to dosage and a user’s tolerance.

One recent study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C., The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids, examines the association between marijuana and injury or death. The researchers conclude that cannabis impairment increases the chances of a motor-vehicle accident, but they are less certain about whether it has a significant effect on overall workplace safety, saying:

“There is insufficient evidence to support or refute a statistical association between general, non-medical cannabis use and occupational accidents.”

According to OHS Canada Magazine:

“this lack of certainty could become troubling when one considers marijuana use by a worker in a safety-sensitive position…including construction, operating motor vehicles, healthcare, operation of heavy equipment, law enforcement and any task requiring a high level of cognitive function.”

Canada has general duty provisions under Occupational Health and Safety legislation. The general duty provisions require every employer to ensure the health and safety of workers as well as require every worker to protect his health and safety and that of other workers. These provisions impact all provincially regulated workplaces.

• Three Canadian jurisdictions – British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and the...