For our police forces, it’s still reefer madness

We continue to be stuck in the illogical cycle of prohibition

With less than a week having passed since cannabis officially became legal, it’s probably too soon to expect the issue to fade into the societal background. That will take time, as it will for some of the lingering cannabis hysteria to subside, as well.

That would include the nonsensical and prohibitionist policies applying to off-duty cannabis use by members of some of Canada’s various law enforcement agencies. The Calgary Police Service is one of the worst offenders in this regard.

As someone who is neither a police officer nor a user of cannabis, I have no vested interest in the specifics of these policies. Given that police forces have mostly been hostile to the idea of cannabis legalization, it’s not surprising that they’re not exactly embracing the change with open arms.

However, in the interests of evidence-based policy and the importance of erasing the stigma around cannabis use, this approach deserves to be called out.

It should be noted that some police forces have adopted a sensible position. Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa have all taken the existing “fit for duty” standard that applies to alcohol and prescription medication and applied it to cannabis. This obvious and logical approach is, unfortunately, the exception.

The RCMP and the Toronto Police Service, for example, have banned members from using cannabis within 28 days of a shift. I don’t suspect that there are many officers who have the luxury of taking four weeks consecutive vacation, and even then it would seem cannabis use is limited to Day 1 of that vacation. Essentially this constitutes a ban.

Calgary’s approach is an even more blatant prohibition. The policy mandates that officers who are qualified to use a handgun and available for duty are forbidden from using cannabis, which would apply to nearly all police service members.

Even the Canadian Forces somewhat restrictive policy would be a vast improvement over what the Calgary service has implemented. Canadian Forces members must refrain from cannabis use for at least eight hours prior to reporting for duty, or 24 hours before handling a firearm.

Not surprisingly, the Calgary Police Association, which represents Calgary officers, has filed a grievance with the force, suggesting the policy “exceeds management rights.” The union is also concerned that officers who encounter secondhand cannabis smoke could test positive for THC and run afoul of the policy.

Just because THC can remain in the blood does not mean that an individual is impaired and there’s no basis for carving out a higher and harsher standard for cannabis. Some prescription drugs can remain in the blood or urine for days or weeks and yet “fit for duty” is deemed appropriate for governing their use. Obviously, we don’t want police officers showing up for work drunk or hung over, but again, they need to show up “fit for duty.”

There’s not likely to be a sudden surge of police officers rushing to get their hands on some cannabis now that it’s legal. The union grievance seems to stem more from a principled stand against arbitrary and unfair diktats from management than necessarily going to bat for uniformed cannabis users.

However, there may, in fact, be an upside to adopting the Vancouver/Montreal/Ottawa approach.

For officers dealing with stress or anxiety

— or even something more severe like PTSD — cannabis may provide some benefit. But it seems the Calgary service and other police forces have little interest in better understanding that side of it.

There’s a reasonable chance that this grievance will succeed and it’s entirely possible that a year from now most of these restrictions will have eased.

For now, though, we’re stuck in the illogical circle of prohibition: cannabis is illegal because it’s bad and it’s bad because it’s illegal. Even though that all changed six days ago, these policies are rooted in that past.