Police service bans pot use by officers on and off job

Consumption of cannabis will be off limits for Calgary police officers even when they are not working, the head of the local police association says.

Les Kaminski said the “blanket policy” issued by the Calgary Police Service states that anyone who is qualified to use a firearm and is available for call-out will be prohibited from using the substance once it is legalized next month.

“It basically covers probably 99.9 per cent of our members,” Kaminski said Wednesday.

He said the association has received calls from members who are upset about the directive.

“They’re saying, ‘I’m not even planning on using, but the fact is that they can’t tell me what I can or can’t do with a legal substance on my days off,’ ” Kaminski said.

“It will get challenged. There’s little doubt.”

A Calgary police spokesperson on the issue could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kaminski expects to see the policy evolve following cannabis legalization.

“We are in uncharted territory right now — we’re kind of in the Wild West,” he said.

“There’s no precedent and there’s no case law and there are no arbitration rulings, so really there’s nothing to base this on right now.

“It’s a blank slate. So I think as things get challenged, in courts or arbitration hearings … I think once it happens in one other jurisdiction, you’ll see it kind of spread across Canada.”