LEGAL MATTERS
Implications of Marijuana
Legalization in the Heavy
Construction Workplace
Drug prohibition in Canada
began in 1908 in Vancouver,
of all places. After a series
of riots in the early 1900s, some blame was
placed, racially motivated, on Chinese us-ers
of opium. As a result, The Opium Act was
passed by the Mackenzie King government.
The prohibited drugs under The Opium
Act grew over time. Morphine and cocaine
were added to the list, but not marijuana.
Many historians blame the prohibition
on marijuana on a series of articles writ-ten
in Macleans magazine by author Emily
Murphy. In her article, “Marijuana – A New
Menace,” she claimed that the only ways
out of marijuana addiction were insanity or
death.
Although marijuana was eventual-ly
made illegal in Canada, the first seizure
by police didn’t happen until 1937, and
marijuana only accounted for two per cent
of all drug arrests between 1946 and 1961.
When one talks about marijuana being
illegal in Canada, that is accomplished in
a very simple way. Marijuana is one of ma-ny
substances contained in a list which
is made part of legislation called the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. There
is no special legislation dedicated to mar-ijuana.
Instead, the legislation makes it
What employers need to
know about drug testing
By Paul Harasen, BA, LLB, Kanuka Thuringer LLP
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