The Daily Mail recently reported that Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, chief of the Metropolitan Police, wants all professionals to be drug tested at work — especially in the teaching, nursing and transport industries.
Sir Bernard believes this will discourage the demand for illegal substances. Staff who are discovered with drugs in their system during work hours with have to get clean, otherwise they may lose their jobs. Drug testing is already a common practise in the United States.
“It seems to me we have got to plant in people’s minds something to affect the demand as well as supply” said Sir Bernard at a speech to the all party Parliamentary Group on Cannabis and Children, “you can think of many occupations where if you were working with a colleague you would want to be sure in fact that they were drug free”
Sir Bernard is speaking out against the de-criminalisation of cannabis when several of his colleagues, and many in Parliament, are arguing for a relaxation of rules on cannabis consumption. According to the Daily Mail report, Sir Bernard said that parents “born in the 60s and 70s fail to warn their children about the dangers of super strength skunk. The potency of cannabis has increased five-fold in the last half century but many parents were unaware of the damage it can do to young brains.”
Margaret McCann, Castle Craig’s Medical Director, said that “there are increasingly potent strains of cannabis, such as skunk, which can cause psychotic illness. Many of the patients at Castle Craig are being treated for cannabis addiction, where cannabis is the primary drug of the addiction.”
If you want to find out more about addiction at work, please visit our section on alcohol and drug addiction among professionals.
