46 | LEXPERT • June 2019 | www.lexpert.ca/usguide
Mitch Frazer, senior partner and chair of
the Pensions and Employment Practice at
Torys LLP. He says for employers figur-
ing out how best to navigate and mitigate
potential risks in their workplaces, it's not
an inconsequential matter.
"Canada does have the fourth-highest
cannabis consumption rate in the world,
according to the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime," he says. And, fur-
ther, he highlights the Canadian Tobacco,
Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS)
conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf
of Health Canada, which highlighted
that in 2015, 24 percent of users consume
Cannabis
in the Workplace
Although recreational marijuana has been
legal in Canada since October 17, 2018,
employers trying to stay on the right side
of the law in their workplaces are finding
there's not only complexity, but also risk
and a fair level of uncertainty. "e law,
in terms of the workplace and recreation-
al cannabis, is in its infancy, in a state of
flux and has got to catch up with reality,"
says Richard Charney, senior partner and
Global Head of Employment and Labor at
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.
"We're all in a bit of the new world in
terms of regulating cannabis for non-me-
dicinal purposes in the workplace," agrees
UNDERSTANDING EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND EMPLOYER
OBLIGATIONS POST-LEGALIZATION
BY BEV CLINE
Labor
/
Employment
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
