Colliers Survey Reveals Workers' Attitudes Toward Cannabis In The Workplace

When it comes to the legalization of cannabis, Canada has left the United States in the dust, officially legalizing the national use of pot on Oct. 17. In the U.S., recreational marijuana use is legal in nine states, and medical marijuana use is legal in 31 states, but any form of marijuana use remains illegal under federal law. 

One key question that has surfaced as a result of Canada nationalizing the legal use of marijuana is whether or not employers should allow cannabis in the workplace.

In a recent survey conducted by Colliers International in Canada, 38% of more than 1,000 respondents believe that cannabis should be strictly regulated in the workplace, with a firm zero tolerance policy. At the opposite end of the spectrum, roughly 30% of respondents believe cannabis should be moderately restricted or not restricted at all in the workplace, meaning, for example, employees can use pot during their lunch breaks, similar to having a quick beer or a cigarette break, Colliers reports.

When it comes to pot dispensaries being near or inside office buildings, many respondents were undecided, with nearly half, or 49%, of respondents believing that marketing and/or selling marijuana in an office building is unacceptable, Colliers reports.

The survey conducted by Colliers International Asset Advisory featured responses from 1,062 office occupiers across several Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and a handful of Atlantic Canada provinces.  

In Canada, where Parliament voted in favor of the legal use of marijuana in June (a law that went into effect on Oct. 17), employers, building owners and operators will soon have their hands full putting rules in place to regulate how and when cannabis can be used in and around the workplace. 

Canada is the first G7 country — the seven largest economies in the world — to embrace legal pot use on a national level, and consumers are already blazing through the inventory. Reports surfaced late last week that retail pot shops were running out of cannabis supply and could not keep pace with demand. The legalization of pot in Canada is expected to become a $6.5B industry, Fortune reports.