BLOWING SMOKE
Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce hosts panel on legalization of marijuana
Chamber attempts to clear up confusion about recreational cannabis.
The Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel discussion Tuesday to help local businesses blow back the cloud of confusion hanging around the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada.
“Our goal is for each of you to leave here today better informed about this topic and to feel empowered to take the necessary steps for your businesses,” chamber chief executive officer Kathleen Yurchesyn told the approximately 100 people gathered at a downtown hotel to hear six experts discuss how Cape Breton businesses might be impacted when Bill C-45 goes into effect Oct. 17.
As head of a police force that serves about 95,000 people across 2,400 square kilometres, panellist Peter McIsaac said he’s spoken to a wide range of Cape Breton Regional Municipality residents — including business owners — about the cannabis law. Based on data from Colorado and Washington — two U.S. states that legalized recreational marijuana — the Cape Breton Regional Police chief said they expect to see an increase in motor-vehicle accidents, impaired driving offences and certain kinds of crime.
“So, from a public safety perspective as police chief, that is something that concerns me,” said McIsaac, who later noted there are positives to the new laws — namely that it will financially hurt organized crime and give users a safer product. However, he said allowing people to grow plants in their homes means young people will have access to the drug.
The panel also included Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. senior vice-president and COO Tim Pellerin; trial lawyer Guy LaFosse; Scott Nauss, the senior director of the Nova Scotia Labour Department’s occupational health and safety division; David Burton, co-founder of Headland Cultivation Company; and human resources professional Patti Merrigan of Cape Breton University.
Merrigan suggested businesses update their human resources policies to reflect the new law.
She said CBU has had to update more than 10 documents and that laws governing occupational health and safety, human rights, smoke-free places, and medical cannabis rights all had to be considered.
“It’s not a case where one policy fits all. You have to take into consideration, do you serve customers? In our case we have students, which needs to be considered. What are going to be the rules for your employees? How are you going to accommodate an
employee who’s using cannabis for medical purposes?
“It’s really important to consult with everybody in your organization to find out what policies do you need to update and what are the rules that are going to work for your organization.”
When it comes to workplace safety, Nauss said the Department of Labour is concerned about impairment in general, not just marijuana use.
“We’re recommending that employers look at it globally from an impairment standpoint, not necessarily singling out any one drug,” he said, adding that people performing specific job tasks — such as operating motor-vehicles, heavy equipment or chainsaws — can’t be impaired by any drug.
“It will state right in the manufacturer’s specs: Do not operate this device under the influence of drugs or alcohol. You’re really going to have to, as an employer, kind of focus more on the task than necessarily the type of impairment.
“I think really it comes down to employers need to know their people. They need to know when their people are behaving normally and maybe when they’re off, or impaired — and impairment due to cannabis is no different than impairment due to other illicit drugs, prescription drugs, or even fatigue.”
A former federal drug prosecutor, LaFosse said he anticipates the Cannabis Act will be “a field day for lawyers” because of the criminal, liability and insurance implications.
He said the new law defines distribution as “using, possessing and transporting,” which
means an employer who supplies cannabis at a workplace could face serious jail time.
“I’m envisioning a situation where the happy hours on Fridays at some businesses may take on a whole new connotation with employers possibly providing cannabis to employees,” he said. “If you get into the strict definition of give within the meaning of the Cannabis Act, then you’re in violation of that. Now I can’t imagine Peter (McIsaac) having his police officers going out and doing the search warrant and things like that, but it may very well happen, and if you’re charged with that under the Cannabis Act, the maximum penalty is 14 years in jail. It’s very, very strict.”
People in the transportation industry also need to be aware of the legal consequences if an employee transporting equipment or goods into U.S. is caught with cannabis that was legally acquired in Nova Scotia.
“Not only can that person be charged with importing drugs, but the equipment, the trucks, all the goods, can be seized as well. So, it creates quite a hardship for employers in that instance.”
Burton’s Halifax-based company plans to grow a high-end craft brand of cannabis in Lennox Passage, Richmond County. He said buds will be a boon to rural Nova Scotia.
“Anything that drives employment in rural Canada is massive, and there is no industry, perhaps including oil and gas, that’s investing as much as cannabis is in rural Canadian communities.”
Pellerin said he’s hearing “more confusion than concerns” as NSLC prepares to become the only legal cannabis retailer in
Nova Scotia.
Twelve NSLC locations, including the Sydney
River store, will sell dried cannabis flower, seeds, pre-rolled joints, as well as oil and gel caps. He said education is the key.
“We are a petri dish of experimentation for the world, and that comes with a huge responsibility from a retailing and a corporate social responsibility standpoint. So, yeah, we’re hearing lots of confusion,” he said.
“We have the highest per capita consumption of medical cannabis in Canada, and the second-highest per capita consumption of cannabis overall in Canada, only behind B.C. A lot of people smoking weed in Nova Scotia, and there’s probably only going to be more as access and convenience and understanding and knowledge gets bigger.”