From November 1st, the legality of cannabis in the UK will change. After a long-running set of campaigns from cannabis supporters, it will finally be legal for doctors to prescribe cannabis-based drugs in the UK, for sufferers of several medical conditions. Contributor Pam Rogerson, HR Director at ELAS
It is thought that people suffering from chronic pain, spasticity, nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy, as well as drug-resistant epilepsy, will be first in with a chance to be prescribed cannabis, with a recent article in the British Medical Journal saying it could be of use in cases like these.
However as the drug is officially a Class B substance in the UK, the law is not going to change for recreational users and possession of the substance can land you with up to 5 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine. With a new set of rules coming into effect from the start of November it is no doubt that both employers and employees will need to be aware of the new legislation to ensure that no-one is breaking the law or their employment contract.
Health & Safety Manager, Wayne Dunning: “I would say that legalising “medicinal cannabis” would hopefully be controlled by the prescriber and monitored and documented on a regular basis as with other prescribed medications per patient.” Wayne states.
“Drugs affect people in different ways and as a result the medication would generally come with strict warnings to the patient giving them information on what tasks they are not allowed to undertake, such as operating machinery or equipment.This is also supported by GP’s who should provide verbal warnings at the time of prescribing.”
“If cannabis is to be purchased off the shelf/behind the till in the future then it will also need to be strictly controlled as per other strong medication.”
“If an employee is undertaking a task on behalf of the employer then it may be useful to extend the current health & safety policy to include medicinal cannabis use alongside the existing drug and alcohol use section. It is the responsibility of the employee to inform their employer that they are taking medicinal cannabis so that controls can be put in place for a ‘personal risk assessment’ which would come under the DPA. The employer may also ask the employee for written consent from the GP.”
“It’s possible that the employee may not inform their employer that they are using such medication and this will indeed be breaking the rules of the company and their health and safety policies. If an accident was to occur, then the employer would have to prove they have done everything possible to make sure their employees were aware of the policies, procedures and that they monitored their workforce, otherwise there could be serious repercussions for the employer.”
So how could medicinal cannabis impact the hiring process? Would an employee be at a disadvantage if they disclosed that they were on prescription cannabis at their interview? Are employers legally allowed to know that kind of information during the recruitment stages? Pam Rogerson, HR Director at ELAS, explains what an employer can legally find out during the hiring process: “The use of cannabis is still unlawful in the UK and applicants/employees are not routinely asked if they are regular users of cannabis or any other drug as part of a recruitment process. Medical questionnaires are usually presented after an offer has been made (to prevent discriminating recruitment practices) and will ask if medical conditions or prescribed medicines will affect the performance in the role.”
If the position is health & safety critical, then the company procedure for drug and alcohol testing would be discussed at recruitment or induction stages. Not every employer has a policy or procedure for testing but we highly recommend that companies implement them.”
