My son phoned me last night. His friend that he works with got fired. This company never fires anyone! Apparently what happened was that other workers kept going and telling the higher ups that he was smoking dope in his car on breaks. My son said that other workers do the same. He actually WAS smoking dope in his own car on a break. Apparently they caught someone else doing the same and suspended him for a few days.

I don't know that I think smoking dope is a good idea, but it seems to me that if you are doing it in your own car on a break, what business is it of fellow employees - or even your employer? My son says this guy is in a supervisor position and was a really good worker. So smoking dope obviously had no effect on his ability to do his job. My son said he told him he was stupid, that he should wait until he got home, but really - from a work perspective what is the difference? If you smoke dope at home - get in your car and go to work, isn't that the same as doing it in your break and going to work?

I don't think they have any written policy about drugs where my son works. He thought it was stupid that they didn't fire the guy they actually caught - who wasn't a particularly good worker, but they fired his friend.

I said - life isn't fair!

But I still don't know that unless a job place has a policy of no drugs and if the drugs don't affect the person's ability to work - what business is it of an employer what a person does in their spare time? Probably lots of people do things on their own time that their employer would not approve of - if they knew about it. Supposing the person exceeds the speed limit all the time or runs red lights or shoplifts - isn't that a job for the police and not your employer.

Hi Lizwil98, your son is a tattoo artist, am I right, if so then I wouldnt be very happy getting a tattoo done by someone whos was high on dope, I think it was right that his friend was fired, sorry.

I have to agree that smoking dope is (a) illegal (b) stupid and apart from anything else, if you are high on drugs you cannot do your job properly no matter what anyone says. its like being drunk on the job. just because your drinking a bottle of scotch out of your own cup doesnt make it right.

One year my daughter was demoted from her summer job as a swimming pool manager (busted back to swimsuit decency inspection) after she turned a blind eye to lifeguards smoking dope on the job and someone in power found out.

Her logic "it was raining, there wasn't going to be anymore swimming that day so it was just as if the shift had ended" didn't wash with the municipality. She recovered from the setback and went on to manage big pools but it made me wonder about the logic of employer's attitudes here; people openly smoke at office parties or, in that case, at parties in the pool after hours. It seems silly to fuss over reefer madness on the job.

Still, lucky they weren't smoking straight cigarettes; she'd still be in jail for allowing that.

"illegal" is a bit strong. It's illegal like overstaying on a parking meter is illegal.

But surely it is actually against the law?

Last time I looked there was a carrying limit under which there was no chance of prosecution, which would make the situation here the same as in the Netherlands; "illegal but tolerated". I didn't look closely because we usually get a quarter delivered and the limit was way over that.

I think it's important to note that "illegal but tolerated" is a common circumstance in Ontario, beer on the porch, pick up soccer in the park, bicycling without a helmet, all manner of things are usual but technically illegal.

I guess to some degree that is fair enough, and i certianly wouldnt know what the laws were in Ontario, Regina, etc, or how stricly enforced.

Was the car parked on company premises then is the one thing I could think the employer might choose to stand firm on then?

From another point off view, would they accept an employee drinking on a break during a shift?

And, depending on the company, maybe it was a paid break as part of a longer shift, so you are still on company time (even if on a break you have earnt)

I'm not very Canadian inasmuch as I just don't get the whole 'Canabis is cool and socially acceptable' thing. It's the source of some amusement/bemusement to my wife and some of her siblings, although certain events this winter have made them think again. Maybe I was just never a cool kid at school/uni but it's something I just think is plain wrong. So I have little sympathy for someone losing their job for smoking up whilst in their car. I don't care whether they work in Timmies or are a brain surgeon, they're an idiot and frankly deserve what they get. If he was in his car then whats to stop him driving down to Tims when he gets the munchies and wiping out someone else 'cos he's high?

Incidentally did anyone see the 'Holmes on Homes' prog last night where Mike rebuilt a home that had been used as a grow op? Fascinating stuff.

I think that it is not appropriate to smoke dope at work. Not for any moral or legal reasons but from my experience of working with drug users it definately impairs the ability to perform certain tasks. At a low level of use it could be equated with consuming alcohol at work which I would see as unacceptable. Health and safety are also considerations. In your own private time fine.

Actually, this is my younger son. It's my older son who is a tattoo artist. My younger son works in a manufacturing plant. I have never worked with anyone who was on drugs - at least if I did I didn't know about it. My son said that this guy was a really good worker. Maybe he didn't do the smoking thing very often. I don't know.

Personally, I think that cigarettes are a drug. I know that they are a legal drug - but to me a drug is a drug. The whole damn lot should probably be illegal - booze, cigarettes - the lot.

I just wondered where the line stopped - what can employer stop you doing that you do on your own time. Admittedly, this probably was not the guy's own time - it was a paid break.

I think my son was more ticked off that they did not fire the guy they actually caught, than the fact they DID fire his friend. I think perhaps the appropriate thing to have done in both cases was suspend the employee and insist they attend a substance abuse course.

I don't see that at all. Smoking weed is a sociably acceptable pastime in Canada and, for that matter in the US, if an employer doesn't like it then fair enough, the employer can require a piss test and fire people who smoke (straights or weed, or drink, or eat garlic, whatever) so long as it's in the employment cointract. What they shouldn't do is to adopt a moral stance such as is implied by requiring attendance at a behavior modification session.

It think this is an equality issue. All employees should be treated the same. Although I accept senior workers may have a tougher time due to the "setting an example" ethos

Both parties should have been spoken too and allowed to state their case . Then offer any mitigating circumstances before a decision is made.

If there was no drug policy what was he sacked for? what has he breached?

Do they have a disciplinary procedure?

hi , not quite sure that i understand your thinking at all.

i dont think that you would be very happy to recieve a needle from me after i had smoked up on my break!

also, contrary to your thinking, employers pay you during your break but not for your lunch hour so basically although it is your 15 minute free time so to speak , you are on employer time.

Smoking dope at work is highly irresponsible, very stupid and he got what he deserved. sorry

He got caught smoking a substance in his break; he got fired, as he would be if he was drinking to the point that the toxic effect was noticeable.
Beer may take a couple of pints to produce a noticeable effect on the minds ability to function, the same effect can be achieved in a couple of tokes of weed.

Maybe the first one got the warning as it was new to them and they just didn’t think anybody would be dumb enough to repeat his stupidity.

If I found anybody working for me smoking pot in his car I have him bounced of site with his belongings in a box.

What they do in the evenings as long as there’s no residual effect in the morning is a personal affair

In work time on a paid break and possibly on company property is an entirely different issue