So, you’ve decided you want to create a policy on cannabis use. It could be because you want your firefighters to have access to medical marijuana, feel more protected when using CBD, or because your state has legalized it and you want to get ahead of any potential issues by creating a policy. Whatever the reason is, I’m sure you have questions. Hey, me too. Thus, some thoughts on creating a medical marijuana use policy for fire departments.
- Medical Marijuana and Firefighters: A Better Way to Handle Pain and PTSD?
- Marijuana in the Fire Service: Up in Smoke
- The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions: Firefighter Tests Positive for Marijuana
There seem to be two ways to accomplish this: getting it written into your collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or removing THC from random testing and yearly physical testing. I knew of two East Coast departments that currently have it in their CBA. I contacted one, and they told me that the people I really needed to talk to were in Pittsburgh.
I sat down with Local 1 Vice President Tim Leach. “Start laying groundwork like anything else you want to negotiate. Find some leverage. Negation is a give and take; maybe they want some sort of testing policy in place, and you can barter based off that,” said Leech. He also emphasized how important it is to know the federal laws that govern medical resource officers and Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines, since things are currently changing. “Know your state laws on workers’ comp—some will actually deny a workers’ comp claim if you use cannabis.” (For more in depth knowledge from Pittsburgh, see the previous article or check out the podcast we did on the subject below.)
Next up on my list were Prince William County, Virginia, and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), two agencies that have removed testing unless there is a fire department vehicle accident or reasonable suspicion. FDNY firefighters Jim Slevin, IAFF District Vice President, and Bobby Eustace, IAFF local 94 Vice President, sat down with me. The new policy has only been in effect since July, so again, I found myself staring at a situation where the policy is too new to know what its strengths and weaknesses truly were yet.
Bobby, however, had one point that stood out. “You can’t have a policy on marijuana without focusing on your mental health resources just as much. Your people need both options.”
Slevin’s concern was to ensure that departments take a proactive approach to the issue. “With more jurisdictions legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes, it is imperative that we develop commonsense policies that balance our members needs and fitness for duty standards.”
Prince William County was up next. I asked Local 2598 President Mitch Nason and Secretary/Treasurer Joe Mirable. Their plan of attack was thorough and involved a long game that started with lobbying a local delegate for support on a medical marijuana legalization bill.
Mirabile provided me with a thoroughly detailed plan of attack: “Educate yourself. There will be a lot of misinformation from your municipal or county administration, department upper management, county/city attorneys, risk management, etc. You need to be educated in order to counter these inaccurate talking points. Some of the misinformation you hear may be intentional due to personal beliefs, and some may simply be from lack of experience or proper knowledge of the subject. Cannabis legalization was very new in the Commonwealth of Virginia, so there were a lot of questions and gray areas. That said, plenty of other states and fire departments have dealt with it, so reach out to those locals and pick their brains.
Come up with a consistent and well thought out message. Highlight the high levels of sleep deprivation, alcohol dependence, and mental health/suicide risks associated with our profession. How many members lost their jobs due to a DUI arrest involving alcohol? Status quo hasn’t worked.
“Members in other localities (and now ours) have had amazing results with utilizing medical cannabis to fix their sleep issues, break alcohol dependence, and alleviate other ailments such as joint pain and mood disorders,” Mirabile continued. “Cannabinoid medications have consistently had positive outcomes and quantifiable results for our members.
Craft an actual policy. Look at other departments’ substance abuse policies. Look at what will work for your department so that you can counter any pushback from your upper management. Much of the opposition from our county centered around determination of inebriation and apparatus wrecks. A well-crafted policy can address those issues while allowing your members to exercise their right to utilize their physician-certified medications off duty.
Don’t stop fighting for this. This was a multiyear process that involved a state-level medical cannabis protection bill. There were numerous peaks and valleys at the local level trying to change county and department policy. Cannabinoid medications are literally saving our members’ lives. They should have the same access to them as every other resident.”
After talking to four separate departments on and off the record, a few common themes emerged that would have to be perfect on a perfect policy.
- Reasonable suspicion testing: How many officers must agree on reasonable suspicion to have a person tested? What counts as reasonable suspicion in the first place? With staffing issues and mandatory hours, did that person just work 36, 48, 60 hours? Is it allergy season? Are they just plain tired?
- Purchase point: A policy that doesn’t designate where a cannabis product is purchased opens itself up for trouble. Cocaine in someone’s system? Oh, must have been the marijuana my buddy gave me. The act of getting marijuana use approved is beneficial and will need to be protected against possible shenanigans.
- Determination of whether a member has used too close to being on duty: This was the big one that I heard from every single person I spoke to. How do you test and what is the allowable limit in the first place?
While mulling over the problem of testing, I suddenly remembered that we had, in fact, an entire West Coast to the country, and folks there are kind of notorious for legalizing things before the East Coast does. With that in mind, I called up Vancouvers Local 452 president, Ryan Reese.
“I think you hit the nail on the head,” said Reese. “We’ve had medical marijuana access for longer, so we’ve had time to figure it out.” Ryan went on to explain that they ran their own experiment of blood testing vs urinalysis and discovered that the blood tests would accurately show if someone hadn’t recently used cannabis even if it was still showing up in the urine. “It’s more accurate, and fair for the employee.”
Here are a few things to consider when discussing testing:
- Urinalysis can detect cannabis in the urine for approximately three to 30 days after use. That’s a wide window and means if someone was on injury leave and using cannabis instead of a prescribed opioid, they’d still be in trouble if they had to test.
- Saliva tests can detect cannabis for approximately 24 hours after use, and some saliva tests have detected cannabis for up to 72 hours.
- Blood tests can detect THC for 3-4 hours after use. This standard most closely mirrors the current testing in place for ETOH use.
After countless hours of asking questions, here’s the game plan that I saw successfully repeated.
1. Know your laws: Local, federal, medical resource officer, workers’ comp.
2. Find an elected official to join your cause. Write out a compelling argument/statement that can ease the mind of citizen and politician alike.
3. Testing: Research it to death. Find the best ways to protect your people and the fire department.
4. Make sure your people are getting their cannabis products from a safe place. This protects their health and keeps anyone from screwing up cannabis use for everyone else.
One theme reigned supreme in every conversation I’ve had on this subject: Federal legalization is potentially on its way, so you really should start building a policy. It could be because you believe it’s a useful tool for your firefighters, or it could be because you want to ensure their jobs are protected from unfair scrutiny and tests. Whatever your reasons are, start writing.
Stephanie White is a 19-year veteran of the fire service, and has spent the past 17 years as a professional firefighter/paramedic in a metropolitan fire department. Throughout her career, she has been actively involved in firefighter health and safety as a personal trainer, cancer awareness educator, and a trained mental health peer.
