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.
At Work article
At-work cannabis use linked to work factors, including some not expected: IWH study
What factors differentiate people who use cannabis at work from those who don't? An IWH study finds they all relate to people's job characteristics and environments, including some that are surprising.
Published: February 2021
Project
Project
Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Cannabis use and long-term recovery and return-to-work outcomes among Ontario injured workers
An IWH study is helping us understand how workers with work-related injuries and illnesses use cannabis and how that use is related to their recovery and return to work.
Status: Ongoing
Journal article
Journal article
Patterns and correlates of workplace and non-workplace cannabis use among Canadian workers before the legalization of non-medical cannabis
Published: Drug and Alcohol Dependence, January 2021
Infographic
Infographic
Cannabis use and the Canadian workplace (2020)
From 2018 to 2021, the Institute for Work & Health is conducting a yearly survey of Canadian workers about cannabis. The aim is to understand how the legalization of non-medical cannabis is affecting workers’ cannabis use and beliefs about use. This infographic highlights some of what we learned in our first comparison of pre- and post-legalization findings, based on the first and second surveys.
Published: October 2020
Journal article
Journal article
Cannabis use and work-related injuries: a cross-sectional analysis
Published: Occupational Medicine, October 2020
IWH in the media
Is cannabis use on the rise?
Conflicting numbers suggest overall consumption is up, but at-work use unchanged, John Dujay reports on findings of a Institute for Work & Health study led by IWH Associate Scientist Dr. Nancy Carnide.
Published: Canadian HR Reporter, June 2020
At Work article
At-work use of cannabis reported by 1 in 12 workers—no change since legalization
In follow-up study of cannabis use before and after legalization in Canada, IWH research team found no increase in at-work or daily use of cannabis. Still, one in 12 said they used cannabis just before work, during work or during work breaks.
Published: April 2020
IWH in the media
Where does the use of cannabis now stand in the eyes of the workplace?
Has cannabis use and perception about workplace cannabis use changed since legalization? That’s the question Dr. Nancy Carnide and a team at the Institute for Work and Health (IWH) is exploring through annual surveys of Canadian workers. Angela Gismondi reports on the preliminary results, which Carnide shared at the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) and Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) Leadership Day.
Published: Daily Commercial News, March 2020
IWH in the media
Addressing mental health, substance abuse at work requires new approaches: Experts
A panel of professionals offered tips for dealing with mental illness and substance use disorder in the workplace at the recent OGCA Leadership Conference. On the panel, Dr. Nancy Carnide, a scientist with the Institute for Work & Health who is conducting a survey on cannabis in the workplace, said that employers need to look at how the workplace may be contributing to substance use.
Published: Daily Commercial News, March 2020
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Have cannabis use and perceptions about workplace use changed since legalization?
Are workers using and thinking differently about cannabis at work now that the non-medical use of cannabis is legal? A team at the Institute for Work & Health led by Associate Scientist Dr. Nancy Carnide is answering this question through annual surveys of Canadian workers, asking about their use and understanding of, as well as their perceptions about, cannabis at work. In this presentation, Dr. Carnide shares early results from her comparison of workers’ pre- and post-legalization responses to questions about cannabis at work.
Published: March 2020