The thing about Canadians using is that virtually any job out here worth having is one that tests for marijuana, so Canadians that openly say "I smoke weed" may not have as much to lose as those who would prefer to be closet smokers. My main concern is whether legalization will affect this process or not, since they also swab for alcohol and that basically answers the question.. Alcohol is harder to detect, marijuana leaves its print on you and is easy to detect. This point is even more significant right now when our economy is in dire straights. Alberta is looking at a 16 billion deficit by the end of 2016 and with oil prices being the way they are, it seems that the climate is just going to worsen from here. Not to shit talk the rest of the country, but Alberta was the bread winner and with our shit not straight, its just a matter of time until Canada follows, unless something is done about it. Legal marijuana could be the answer, but with the pre-employment testing the way it is, i just don't see it being legalized even having an impact.
so even if jobs that are worth it are testing for marijuana, are they testing ONLY for weed? or is it a more general testing system that isn't specifically looking for weed (looking for things stronger and that would really impact a career?) My main point here is that how much do employers actually care about the use of marijuana if it isnt affecting the way you work?
Well this is the entire argument about testing; why does my usage matter if i do the work? At what point does personal opinion kind of corrupt the professional work place? I think the main point is that its a drug/alcohol test, so if you cannot quit alcohol or drugs long enough to pass, why have the job in the first place? Its a big issue and one that is very.. "Conservative." When you ask an employer why drug test in the first place, that question is hard for them to take seriously, however, if it is taken seriously, you find that this is really a problem that could be solved through multiple channels, such as having a more extensive hiring program, finding other ways to lower turn around, etc. Predominately, the reason testing exists now is because it did before and that is really the problem.. The old saying "If it ain't broken, do not fix it" comes to mind, since for a number of people, pre-employment testing just is not an issue, since they do not drink or smoke. Getting THOSE people to speak for people who want to see pre-employment issues abolished is really the biggest challenge with this issue. This type of environment is practically a breeding ground for closet smokers and the thing about being a closet smoker is the less people that know you smoke, the better and so protesting this becomes a very big risk. Becomes like a witch hunt for the unemployable. With this being said, between smokers and non-smokers, the issue of drug testing is practically taboo. Its a very hard issue to talk about in a serious way. I thought the pre-employment testing scene was kind of falling off or tapering, but according to some of the posts ive read in the drug testing thread and my own research, it is picking up pace; seeing new ways of testing to beat flushing and synthetic urine become a priority over even talking about having pre-employment testing, which is a severe blow to my faith that we will ever see the end of it. They are furthering their ways to detect drug usage, basically. It also really, really irritates me. I have worked in the oil field most of my life.. These drug testing programs promote usage of hard drugs while making drugs like marijuana a severe inconvenience to use, just through the way they can detect them. As many of us know, several of the hard drugs turn around time are 3 days, where as marijuanas can be over a month and losing your job as a consequence, well, its no surprise the oil camps are full of drug addicts, hooked on hard drugs. This is a problem that has started to dig roots in the testing system, because again, the testing system itself is rarely talked about in a serious way.
We won't be getting the legalization we had hoped for, sorry. Trudeau appointed his brand new MP Bill Blair to oversee this issue, six months after he left his job as chief of police of Toronto. This is a tax grab with heavy penalties for those who don't offer their tithe to Ottawa. You'll see.
I personally know someone who smokes cannabis privately, but publicly derides against it. He does not even have a real motive (eg job) for doing so, it is just douchebaggery. Alberta was a dream built on a reverse peak oil theory, that oil prices would always remain high, and would never go down. Canada has had several industries reach large astronomical percentages of GDP in gold rushes. There were both literal, such as the Klondike and then the fur trade. Pre employment testing in the US is in both states where it is legal and illegal.