Canadian military publishes strict rules for pot consumption

The new guidelines deal with the consumption and possession of cannabis by more than 100,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces and go into effect on October 17, 2018. Entitled: DAOD 9004-1, Use of Cannabis by CAF Members, it is the finalized version of a draft reported in the Global News on Thursday.

Lt.-Gen. Chuck Lamarre, the head of personnel with the CAF says the military has focused on putting “the right prohibitions” in place, aiming to balance respect for Canadian law while allowing the CAF to do its job. He says the new regulations will not be any harder to enforce than the current policy on alcohol.

Under the new policy, consuming marijuana in any way will not be allowed for any member serving in an operation at home or abroad. Cannabis will not be allowed on any aircraft or ship and no soldier will be allowed to smoke or ingest cannabis during their workday.

Perhaps even more important, cannabis consumption during the eight hours before any known or expected performance of a duty is prohibited, while cannabis consumption is also prohibited during the 24 hours before any known or expected performance, operation or handling of a weapons system, loaded weapon, ammunition, explosive ordnance or explosive.

Soldiers from the Canadian Grenadier Guards in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan.

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Lamarre said, “We’ve made the policy document very explicit as to when it cannot be used and who is prohibited from using, and we go to a large extent to protect our operational capability.”

The policy doesn’t just apply to uniformed members of the CAF, but to civilian members. According to the directive, individual branch commanders of the army, navy, air force and special forces are given the authority to enact further restrictions as they see fit.

Canada’s top military commander, General Jonathan Vance, said in a general order that testing will continue to be conducted on individuals “where appropriate” in so-called “restricted” occupations.

The military’s regulations are very strict, but the job description of its military members has been used to necessitate these restrictions. Right now, many employers are still concerned legalized cannabis could undermine workplace safety, and lead to using cannabis while on the job.