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Maryjane and mining don't mix despite the new relaxed law

Mining companies have no tolerance for marijuana usage or any other drug that would impaired the ability of their employees to work safely.

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No matter what the federal government has to say about the relaxed law regarding the use of recreational marijuana that comes into effect on Wednesday October 17,  it won’t change the drug use policies set down by any of the major mining operations in the Timmins area.

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Given that the people employed in the local mines and milling complexes often work with heavy equipment, expensive equipment and in some hostile environments,  the buzzword is that any employee showing up for work must be unimpaired.

Pierre Noël, the Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator at Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) said safety is the key concern.

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“Being fit for work. That is the still the golden rule at PGM,” he said.

Noël said no matter what legislation is in place, it doesn’t change the fact that that the company will not allow any substance  — even over the counter medications – that might affect a person’s ability to work safely.

“Regardless of the law, you have to be fit for work. So anything that would impede your ability to work safely or risk the safety of others, you cannot be under the influence of anything,” he said.

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Noël added the company is consulting with legal counsel and the union to go over company policies.

“If there’s any changes that need to made, we will make them. But nothing has changed in regard to being fit for work. That’s still the golden rule and that doesn’t change for employees,” he said.

Noël said from his experience in working at other mining operations around the North in recent years, it was effectively the same policy everywhere for mine workers.

That was confirmed with an e-mail from Tom Laughren, Director of Corporate Responsibility for Tahoe Canada in Timmins, which runs the Bell Creek and Timmins West mining operations.

“All company employees operate in safety sensitive work environments. This requires good judgement and unimpaired function at all times. A key priority for us is to do everything possible to ensure the health and safety of our people,” said Laughren.

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“To this end, the objective of our drug and alcohol policy is to do as much as possible to ensure people come to work unimpaired due to the use of either legal or illegal drugs, alcohol or prescribed medication,” Laughren continued.

He said everyone coming onto company property is required to comply.

“All employees, including new employees go through and sign off on the Drug and Alcohol policy acknowledging that they have read and understood and any violation will result in discipline,” said Laughren.

“The legalization will not change anything as our objective is to ensure people are not impaired when they come to work,” he added.

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