FROM EDIBLES AND EXTRACTS TO TOPICALS AND VAPES, A NEW SLATE OF LEGAL CANNABIS PRODUCTS MAY INCREASE THE NUMBER OF USERS — AND MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO DETECT IMPAIRMENT ON THE ROADS.

As safety experts worry that cannabis edibles will summon a new wave of users, the federal government has no requirement for commercial drivers — truckers, bus drivers, cabbies, chauffeurs, couriers and rideshare operators — to undergo drug testing while working.

Cannabis edibles, extracts, topicals and vaping products become legal on Oct. 17, which may not only raise the number of users, but also make cannabis impairment more difficult to detect on the roads. The new products can deliver a different high that takes longer to kick in, which could leave drivers unexpectedly impaired.

“Everyone is holding their breath on the edibles ... is this where the jump will occur? A lot of folks have that thought ... there are concerns in that we’re moving into that new territory,” said Graham Miner, director of Prince Edward Island’s highway safety division with the Ministry of Transportation, noting he hasn’t seen a spike in cannabis use on the island.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance is calling for Ottawa to step in and mandate drug testing for commercial drivers. Canada had 1.1 million commercial drivers working in 2018, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.

“This is all about safety, we feel very strongly that operating a commercial vehicle on roadways comes with added responsibility,” said Jonathan Blackham, the alliance’s director of policy and public affairs.

“With that, things like comprehensive drug and alcohol testing goes hand-inhand.”

“Federally regulated employers do not tolerate impairment on the job, and that has not changed since cannabis was legalized,” Jordan Crosby, an issues manager with the Ministry of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction wrote in an e-mail when asked about the lack of drug-testing laws.

“Employees have a duty to work safely. Those who are not fit to do so may pose serious health and safety risks to themselves, their co-workers and the general public.”

Canada has no mandatory drug testing in place because it could infringe on a worker’s right to privacy. With no laws governing drug tests for commercial drivers, it becomes the employer’s responsibility.

Harrison Jordan, a cannabis lawyer based in Toronto, says it’s a difficult zone for employers to navigate because the court battles are “all over the place.”

“The balancing act is if the potential safety benefits outweigh potential intrusion to employee privacy,” he said. Workplaces that want to include random or pre-employment drug tests have to show evidence of a problem with substance abuse.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration south of the border requires commercial drivers to undergo pre-employment, random and post-incident drug testing.

But a recent report from America’s Alliance for Driver Safety & Security estimated 310,000 impaired truck drivers could be on the U.S. roads — having high enough drug levels to fail a hair test.

“Any occupation that requires the person to operate equipment that directly interacts with the public and their safety should require at a minimum that those workers are well rested, well trained and drug free. Anything less flirts with accidents, injuries and fatalities,” said Lane Kidd, managing director of the Alliance for Driver Safety and Security in the U.S.