The landscape is changing, with medicinal cannabis now legalised
and an upcoming referendum testing the appetite for the
legalisation of personal use of cannabis. So, what is the
impact on drug testing in the workplace, and the systems that
employers already have in place?
The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis)
Regulations 2019 came into force on 1 April 2020.
These regulations allow individuals to obtain a prescription
for medicinal cannabis from their doctors. Although the
legislation initially proposed the need for a specialist sign-off,
the regulations, now in place, allow all general medical
practitioners to prescribe medicinal cannabis to their
patients. This is an important development that
employers need to be aware of, as employees could now be validly
using medicinal cannabis.
