Mellow Mountie: Use of medicinal marijuana in the workplace skyrocketing

As serious as this issue is, there's something perversely appealing about picturing a Mountie, complete with red serge uniform and Stetson hat, sparking up a joint.

It's not some satirical sketch on the old Royal Canadian Air Farce show. Cpl. Ronald Francis, who serves with New Brunswick's J Division, is in a tussle with his bosses over whether he can smoke medical marijuana while in uniform – red serge or normal duty blues.

Only in Canada.

Francis obtained a pot prescription after conventional drugs failed to help him cope with his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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Francis told CBC News weed has helped him calm down and reduces his PTSD symptoms, which developed when he worked in the troubled aboriginal community of Davis Inlet.

His prescription allows him up to three grams a day, which he figures adds up to between nine and 15 joints, though he said typically he doesn't smoke that much.

“I get up in the morning, have my coffee and the marijuana," he told CBC News. "I go at lunchtime, have a marijuana joint, and then again in the evening.

"That would be my medical regime. But that may change with my tolerance to THC. It may take two joints in the morning, I don't know.

"I'm just building up my immunity to THC levels, If I was to smoke two I'd probably get stoned to the point that I'm just totally relaxed. I'm still functional. But your nervous system is relaxed, and that makes a big difference."

Francis isn't policing on the street; he's been assigned to a desk job, CBC News said. The RCMP said that while the prescription gives Francis the right to smoke marijuana, it doesn't want its officers to be seen smoking in public or in uniform.

“Definitely a member that has been prescribed medicinal marijuana should not be in red serge taking his medication,” RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gilles Moreau told CBC News. “It would not be advisable for that member, it would not portray the right message to the general public, it’s definitely not something we would support or condone.”

Moreau may have a point. While Francis is pushing papers now, he or other pot-smoking Mounties presumably could be in the field. Will they have to explain their situation every time a member of the public catches a whiff of weed on their uniform?

[ Related: B.C. leads all provinces in licensed pot growers and users ]

Then there's the question of impairment. Medical marijuana isn't like other prescription drugs, where doctors can be confident of the dosages. While Ottawa's new rules regarding commercial production of medical marijuana may change things, there's little consistency to the strength of the pot at this point.

Moreau told CBC News the issue is relatively new and the force is reviewing its internal policies on how to balance its obligations to members with its duty to the Canadian public.

The RCMP can challenge medical treatments it considers inappropriate and seek a second medical opinion, he said. It will evaluate members who have pot prescriptions and limit their duties if it concludes their judgment or motor skills are impaired.

Late Thursday evening, two Mounties turned up at Francis's house and with an order to seize his uniform because he was pictured smoking up in it, CBC News reported. They took his duty uniform and he was ordered to turn in his dress red serge, which was at his girlfriend's house. Francis said he has also been placed on medical leave.

[ Related: Pot-smoking Mountie has uniform seized by RCMP ]

The RCMP's dilemma is probably just the tip of the iceberg as the use of medical marijuana soars in Canada and many inevitably will be smoking on the job.

The Globe and Mail reported last month that a decade ago just 477 people were licensed to buy pot for medical use. Today there are about 37,000 licensed users, a figure health Canada expects to grow to 400,000 over the next 10 years.

An online poll for the The Medical Marijuana Debates forum sponsored by B.C. bio-pharma firm MediJean indicated 51 per cent of respondents think people with medical marijuana licences should be allowed to use it during work hours. Some 20 per cent believed they should use it on their own time and 30 per cent, quite sensibly, said it depends on the job.

The debate is underway as well in the United States, where medical pot is legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia, according to Bloomberg.

The news agency this month reported the case of Brandon Coats, a Colorado quadriplegic who smoked prescribed pot to calm his muscle spasms. He was fired from his job as a customer-service representative at a satellite TV provider after failing a random drug test.

A state appeals court upheld the decision last April, citing the company's rights under federal law that doesn't recognize medical marijuana use.

“Employers ought to reconsider their drug testing policies in states where medical marijuana is legal,” Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, told Bloomberg. “Why discriminate against marijuana users? They’re not different than beer drinkers.”

The Francis case shows the need for employers to better understand medical marijuana, an advocate for medicinal use of the drug said.

The RCMP should allow Francis to smoke up while in uniform provided he's not impaired, Adam Greenblatt, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, told The Canadian Press.

Francis could always take his marijuana in less obvious ways, such as cookies or a vaporizer, he said. Brownies anyone?