Marijuana and Law Enforcement

[blackprophet]

Hear about this this morning:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/28/veteran-rcmp-officer-stripped-of-his-uniform-for-publicly-smoking-medical-marijuana-in-his-red-serge/

Apparently there is a video too (I'm at work and can't look for the video).
Wanted to get the opinion of the honourable PS Community (I'm especially hoping anyone in the service (police, military, etc.) will chime in).

What do you think about it? (For those who don't know the RCMP is the canadian equivalent of the FBI)

Personally, I don't hold up service people in any high regard at all. But I think what they did was deplorable. They coulda warned him, accomodated him etc. They went straight to stripping him of his uniform. After 20 years of service. The reason he was using it is because of his job. What he did was not illegal.

 

[sonnyjane]

Medical marijuana is legal in my state (California), however my employer has a policy that we cannot use drugs and performs random tests. Same was for law enforcement. Even though smoking with a license isn't illegal, it DOES violate the terms of your employment. I think he's lucky that they still let him ride a desk.

 

[TooPatient]

It may not be illegal to smoke marijuana for medical purposes, but it looks like (from the article linked) there is a restriction on duties that can be performed when under the influence. I suspect there is probably also terms in the employment agreement requiring certain standards of behavior when in uniform -- a list of things that you must do and a list of things you can't do.

WA state has legalized the use of marijuana BUT employers and schools have been sending out e-mail notifications reminding people that despite the new law they are still required to follow the agreement already in place. Anyone showing up to class even smelling of marijuana can be asked to leave and disciplinary action can be taken.

In the case of the man in the article posted, I have to say that I do agree with the logic. I would not be happy if military or police were allowed to smoke marijuana (or for that matter drink alcohol) on the job. They need to be able to think and react quickly.

 

[star sparkle]

Yes, using marijuana could possibly violate the terms of one's employment (and I'm sure the RCMP's policy does not make exceptions for medical use) and could have a detrimental impact on a person's fine motor skills and cognitive functions, which isn't a good thing for law enforcement officers. And I'm not sure about Canadian law, but marijuana use is still illegal in the U.S. under federal law regardless of whether or not a particular state has legalized it for medical purposes or otherwise. If an FBI agent in the U.S. was photographed smoking marijuana, even if he lived somewhere like WA/CA/CO, I'd expect and hope for disciplinary action to be taken.

 

[momhappy]

If it violated the terms of his employment then their actions were appropriate.

 

[packrat]

didn't read the article but I would have a huge problem w/law enforcement smoking pot on duty. JD was on duty last night, and since it was a holiday he was able to bring the squad vehicle home and take calls from here while we (unsuccessfully, turned out) watched a movie. Twice he got called out to emergency situations, and one of those situations required him to drive at breakneck speeds and pull his weapon. Pretty sure nobody would've wanted him to be stoned.

 

[sonnyjane]

didn't read the article but I would have a huge problem w/law enforcement smoking pot on duty. JD was on duty last night, and since it was a holiday he was able to bring the squad vehicle home and take calls from here while we (unsuccessfully, turned out) watched a movie. Twice he got called out to emergency situations, and one of those situations required him to drive at breakneck speeds and pull his weapon. Pretty sure nobody would've wanted him to be stoned.

Totally agree. There have been SOOOOO many bad police decisions in recent news that have ended with unarmed, innocent people being shot to death by overzealous cops. The last thing I want is my law enforcement officers having anything in their system that would affect their decision-making and result in even more of such incidents.