Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2017
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Derrick Penner
Page: A3

TRUCKING INDUSTRY TARGETS THC LEVELS

Associations want zero-tolerance policy for professional drivers
regarding pot use

Canada's trucking industry is challenging the federal government over
standards for marijuana impairment, arguing companies should be able
to set zero-tolerance policies because of the safety consequences
involved for professional drivers.

"(Professional drivers) are sharing their workplace with the public,
so the standards they're required to meet should be higher than the
average person operating a passenger vehicle because the consequences
of them being impaired (are higher)," said Louise Yako, CEO of the
B.C. Trucking Association.

That demand, however, could prove challenging under existing
employment law and human rights legislation, according to a legal expert.

The federal government proposed standards for what should constitute
impaired driving under the influence of marijuana in its legislation
to legalize the drug by next July.

The legislation proposes the use of saliva tests to determine whether
a police officer has the probable cause to put a driver through more
definitive testing.

However, Yako said the trucking industry is looking for stricter
standards since marijuana doesn't show obvious signs of impairment,
like alcohol does, to give employers probable cause to test for
impairment and because there is no definitive roadside test for
marijuana impairment.

Yako said the industry's lobbying is being led by the Canadian
Trucking Association, but the provincial trucking associations "share
a common concern."

"For professional drivers, we're recommending that it be zero," Yako
said, pointing to the federal government's own task force report on
proposed legalization, which indicated medical science hasn't
identified a safe level of impairment.

And trucking firms are looking for more latitude to conduct random
testing of drivers, Yako said, beyond the existing conditions they can
test under, which include pre-employment screening.

Yako said zero tolerance also aligns with the law for professional
drivers in the U.S., which Canadian drivers who cross the border
already have to abide by, including provisions for random drug testing.

B.C. doctors have raised concerns about the prospect of
marijuana-impaired driving, pointing to Washington state's experience
with a doubling in the number of fatal crashes where drivers tested
positive for marijuana in the year following legalization there.

However, employers will have to be cautious about setting standards
related to marijuana use because of existing law, said employment
lawyer Cindy Zheng.

"The key thing is that employers must have a reasonable basis to back
up (their) position," Zheng said. "You can't just say, 'People who get
high are inherently dangerous, so you're going to have mandatory
testing,' " she said.

An employer would have to have expert analysis or evidence to
demonstrate the testing they're proposing decreases safety risks.

Zheng recommends employers establish a clear policy around impairment
at work, by substances legal or illegal, including alcohol,
prescription or non-prescription drugs, and marijuana, whether it is
medicinal or non-medicinal.

Zheng said employers are sometimes surprised to learn zero-tolerance
policies when it comes to marijuana could also be considered a
violation of the human rights code.

However, marijuana-legalization activist Dana Larsen contends that
fears over marijuana-impaired driving are overblown. He argued that
studies haven't shown any correlation between levels of THC in blood
and level of impairment.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt