Page 36 - Occupational Health & Safety, February 2018

DRUG TESTING
mutual agreements of our highest priorities, and if your company mission, vision, values, and productive labor efforts are at the fore- front of your workplace culture, odds are that pot use is not on the scale of importance.
If you are struggling with the vehement arguments about the harmlessness and safety of cannabis, remember two important things. First, those who are making this argument are buying into marijuana-industry-speak that also argues cannabis is not impair- ing. Think of it the same way Big Tobacco approached their infa- mous practices for recruiting young customers: Doctors approve, not addictive, harmless. Sound familiar? It’s a playbook—a play- book that worked for decades, much to the physical harm of U.S. citizens, and yet only now are we fully understanding the negative impact and actively reducing tobacco use, while on the tail end finding ourselves duped by the very same promotional slogans used by the cannabis industry.
Second, cling to safety first. Marijuana is an impairing drug that has become substantially more potent since recreational use came into play, with some products containing upwards of 60 percent THC. This was unheard of just five years ago. Compared to the 3 percent weed popular in the 1960s-70s, the new products have been called “Green crack” and free-basing marijuana. What is re- ally happening here is that people are using arguments for a prod- uct that no longer exists.
If we were talking about Woodstock Weed, then it is likely that “harmless” would remain an over-arching argument that could win out. But not so in today’s market. Extreme potencies mean longer-
lasting periods of impairment, higher THC content stored in the body, and greater potential for abuse and addiction. Keep that in mind when the argument presents itself that this is no big deal. It is now ... a very big deal.
Battling the Drug-Friendly Culture
Since when did we become comfortable with our employees work- ing with a little buzz from last night? And why have we been pres- sured and bullied into looking the other way? When a worker falls off a roof, a ladder, or down a flight of stairs, do we treat that as “no big deal”? No. Therefore, the efforts behind safety, wellness, and whole health should be equally as respected. The night-before buzz isn’t just about pot. It also pertains to alcohol, other illicit drugs, and prescription/over-the-counter medications, whether used ap- propriately or misused and abused. It all flows together and relates each to the other because current U.S. culture has become bound- ary-averse.
Our children are not learning “no” from their parents, or while they say “no,” mom and dad are often partaking in substance use themselves. Schools do not have well-funded, effective educational programs about drugs, college has become acceptable party time, and then young people land on your doorstep as your new em- ployee, often without having learned the true value of working safe and sober. We also cannot neglect the aspect of predisposition to addiction that can be a long-standing family history, but set that on a shelf and simply look at our culture. It is, at this time, drug- friendly, and that is what employers are constantly battling.
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