Ahead of the legalization of cannabis coming through today across Canada, the Timmins Police Service released a statement that all employees of the TPS will be subject to the rule that members of the Timmins Police Service are prohibited from using cannabis within 24 hours before reporting for duty. For the full report, go here. 

Corporate Communications Coordinator for the Timmins Police Service, Marc Depatie, says that since the change in legislation has made the recreational use of cannabis a legal activity that people can indulge in, the TPS is aware of it and wants its employees to be able to provide the best quality service they can, free of impairment.

Other police forces, including the Toronto OPP, have enforced a 28 day prohibition for police officers to use cannabis before they are on duty. Depatie says the forces are free to impose any limits they seem necessary.

“In consultation with our own drug officers,” Depatie said, “and our own personal experience with persons who indulge in that type of use of cannabis, we felt that 24 hours is a suitable amount of time for all effects and after effects of recreational use of cannabis to be dissipated. Should this prove not to be the case, then we’ll obviously alter the policy to suit the best interests of the public we serve, as well as the Timmins Police Service.”

Depatie said it was decided at the corporate level that 24 hours was a suitable amount of time to allow those employees who choose to indulge in this activity to be impairment free when they return to work.

“Here again, the policy is fluid and can be altered if this proves to be not the case,” he added.

“The priority here with the Timmins Police Service is that all our employees are fit for duty while on duty. And we do not recommend or endorse the use of such substances. But it is something that is being permissible now by statute. We felt it necessary to develop this policy to get ahead of the curve.”

 

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