A vendor displays marijuana for sale during the 4-20 annual marijuana celebration, in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday April 20, 2018. On the morning of Oct. 17, British Columbians shouldn’t expect to wake up and see marijuana stores opening their doors. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

2/3 of Canadians don’t know their workplace rules for cannabis: poll

With legalization just a week away, a new Ipsos survey suggests that only 18 per cent of employees say upper management has communicated its expectations in the workplace around legal marijuana.

Don’t actually know the rules at your workplace when it comes to recreational cannabis? You’re not alone, according to a Canada-wide poll this week.

With legalization just a week away, a new Ipsos survey suggests that only 18 per cent of employees say upper management has communicated its expectations in the workplace around legal marijuana.

That leaves roughly two-thirds of employees in the dark.

The misunderstanding has about 10 per cent of employees and managers under the impression they will be able to smoke up during work hours or before heading into work, with a further 17 per cent believing it’s a possibility – although their workplace hasn’t indicated one way or another, the survey found.

Meanwhile, 70 per cent of respondents said they expect a prohibitive policy, similar to policies and guidelines already in place for drugs and alcohol use.

The knowledge gap isn’t contained to policies in the workplace. Roughly 52 per cent said they are only somewhat familiar with cannabis laws and regulations, according to the survey. A further 24 per cent said they are “not very familiar.”

While 13 per cent said they’re “at least somewhat likely” to get high before going to work, the poll suggests that many believe that legalization will have an impact on their workplace in various ways.

Just more than half said they expect health and safety incidents to increase post-legalization. Forty per cent said they expect to see more absenteeism and colleagues no-showing.

On Saturday, the B.C. government releases its marijuana use and regulations. The rules are similar to those restricting tobacco use in the province, with no smoking or vaping cannabis within six metres of doorways, windows, bus stops and shelters or air intakes for public buildings.

The legal age will be 19, just like alcohol consumption. Federal laws will allows anyone of legal age to possess up to 30 grams of dried legal cannabis or its equivalent in public.