12 July 2011
The use of synthetic cannabis in the forestry workforce is of growing concern to industry leaders, who are moving quickly to ensure the new substances are included in their drug & alcohol policy. NZ Drug Detection Agency managing director Kirk Hardy said testing for legal synthetic cannabis products became available recently. And last month associate health minister Peter Dunne announced that the Misuse of Drugs Act would be amended to make synthetic cannabis a Class D drug, making it a restricted substance.“We work very closely with high-risk industries with their employee drug testing programmes. We’re now seeing more corporates wishing to include these legal drugs in their on-site workplace drug testing regimes," Mr Hardy told the Gisborne Herald.
The forest industry has had a drug and alcohol-free workplace policy for more than eight years and work was being carried out so that a wider range of drugs could be detected from random testing in the workplace, said Juken New Zealand Ltd forests general manager Sheldon Drummond, who is chairman of the Forest Owners Association health, safety and training committee.
“The introduction of synthetic substances may require further system improvements but the industry is committed to making changes as required. The use of Kronic, Spice, Dream, K2 and other synthetic cannabis products are as much of a danger in the workplace as alcohol and other drugs,” he said.
“Our forest industry has many potential dangers for those who are not fully aware, and the issue of impairment through drug and alcohol use is a huge concern to us.
“Employers are legally bound to take all practicable steps to ensure safety. In our business, all tasks that are safety-sensitive, which is almost all forest industry jobs, must be drug and alcohol-free.”
Mr Hardy said the effects of taking synthetic cannabinoid products mimic the effects of traditional cannabis with users experiencing euphoria and paranoia.
“However, Kronic and others are anecdotally known to be much more potent than illegal cannabis."
Health company Instep encourages all safety-sensitive workplaces to include testing for synthetic substances in their workplace policies.
“Employers are legally required to provide a safe working environment. We recommend that businesses alter their policies to include the ability to test for the presence of synthetic drugs, and this will include a consultation process.
“For some this will involve unions represented in their workplace,” said Instep’s Matthew Beattie.
Source: Shaan Te Kani, Gisborne Herald