Cannabis and work

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, workplaces are concerned about its implications for workplace health, safety and productivity. IWH researchers are watching the research literature and conducting their own studies in order to help answer questions about marijuana use at work: its scope, its effects, and its relationship to work-related injuries and deaths.

Featured

A jar of cannabis buds on a brown desk
At Work article

Cannabis use linked to higher injury risk, but only among those who use at or before work

Does the use of cannabis increase a worker’s risk of having a workplace injury? Previous studies have found mixed results, but none has looked specifically at the use of cannabis just before or at work.
Published: April 12, 2022
Journal article
Journal article

An observational study of pain severity, cannabis use, and benefit expenditures in work disability

Published: Canadian Journal of Public Health, January 2024
A man speaks with a female doctor in scrubs who holds a clipboard
Research Highlights

Workers are using cannabis to treat work-related conditions, mostly without medical guidance

While cannabis is often used recreationally, there is growing interest in its use for therapeutic purposes, such as for pain, anxiety, depression and sleep problems. Some workers are using cannabis many months following the onset of a work-related condition, whether to treat their condition or for other reasons, mostly without medical guidance.
Published: October 2023
Journal article
Occupational Health & Safety logo
IWH in the media

NSC announces new cannabis-focused report, web tool and webinars

Alex Saurman reports on resources from the National Safety Council relating to cannabis safety, cites IWH speaker series presentation on the effects of cannabis on workers.
Published: Occupational Health & Safety, April 2023
A jar of cannabis buds on a brown desk
At Work article

Cannabis use linked to higher injury risk, but only among those who use at or before work

Does the use of cannabis increase a worker’s risk of having a workplace injury? Previous studies have found mixed results, but none has looked specifically at the use of cannabis just before or at work.
Published: April 2022
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series

Cannabis use and the risk of workplace injury: Findings from a longitudinal study of Canadian workers

Does the use of cannabis increase a worker’s risk of having a workplace injury? Prior studies examining this issue have yielded mixed findings and have had some important methodological shortcomings. In this presentation, Dr. Nancy Carnide shares new findings from a longitudinal study of Canadian workers looking at the relationship between cannabis use and workplace injury—including workplace use.
Published: March 2022
NSC Safety + Health
IWH in the media

Supervisors and people in safety-sensitive jobs using cannabis at work, researchers find

Workers who reported using cannabis before or during a shift – including supervisors and people in safety-sensitive jobs – had jobs and work environments in which detection was less likely, according to the results of a recent study out of Canada.
Published: Safety + Health, April 2021