Smoking pot, living, working and the belief in tests

Laws

There are now no actual THC-specific laws here that further criminalize smoking pot. But indirectly there are already effects: Tenancy law, insurance law, labor law. The illegality of smoking pot can lead to a worse position of THC users in case of conflicts.

Conditions

Disturbing the neighborhood with smoke can cause housing problems. Urine tests are conducted in certain companies: Those who are positive face action. Those who cause damage and are found to have THC in their blood may lose insurance benefits.

Tips

Vaporizing or eating does not produce emissions and does not disturb the neighborhood. People who smoke pot should be especially careful in their lives, otherwise they will quickly be told that it only happened because they smoked pot. Companies that test their employees for THC should be boycotted.

Penalties

Renters cannot be directly terminated for smoking, but administration or neighborhood can always file charges with the police. Those who refuse urine tests or are positive for THC will not get a job or will lose it. Insurance companies can take recourse.

Smoking pot, living, working and the belief in tests

Am I allowed to smoke pot in my apartment?

In general, THC consumption is prohibited by the Narcotics Act. However, smoking pot in itself is not a reason for termination. For example, if a housing authority is looking exclusively for non-smokers, smoking is still allowed in the apartment afterwards – a termination would be inadmissible. This has been the general legal opinion at least until today. However, the tenant can be asked to pay for yellow wall discoloration (because of smoking). This shows that smoking is not a completely common activity.

The pressure on smoking (which is often associated with harassment of other tenants) has already increased. Just as more and more parts of train stations have become smoke-free and throwing away cigarette butts is punishable in some places. Therefore, it is likely that a smoking ban in apartments will become enforceable in the future. Currently, personal freedom still applies with regard to smoking. This also applies to smoking pot in apartments, but only if the neighborhood is not significantly disturbed by the smoking.

However, the administration (or the neighborhood) can file a report with the police at any time. After several fines, the fine amounts are so high that hardly anyone will be able to afford to continue smoking pot. In such a case, it is necessary to choose another form of consumption. Cannabis products do not necessarily have to be smoked. Those who eat or vaporize them do not produce any emissions – thus the stress of a possible nuisance to the other tenants is eliminated. Thus, there will hardly be a report to the police.

Can my boss forbid me to smoke pot?

Urine tests are becoming increasingly popular in the workplace. Some people refuse the tests and think their urine is nobody's business. This attitude should prevail: Control over people must not lead to complete surveillance – everyone must fight against this. The disadvantages of fighting are also clear: sanctions are almost inevitable, just as with a positive urine test (someone is not hired or flunked out of school, for example). That's why most people “voluntarily” agree to such tests.

The justification for urine tests is safety. Especially companies from the transport industry regularly perform urine tests. The pharmaceutical industry, which earns good money from drug tests, also likes to test its personnel. Some only test applicants for a job, while others test individual employees or the entire workforce on an irregular basis.

Belief in tests or assessment of specific performance?

In general, the evaluation of an employee should not be made dependent on preferences for certain psychoactive products, but on the specific performance at the workplace. If someone is performing, the question of any drug use is irrelevant. If, on the other hand, the performance is concretely objectionable, then there is also no need for a drug test: The agreed performance is not rendered.

Tests without concrete benefit

The urine tests do not indicate how much and when someone has smoked pot, but merely that such consumption has taken place at some point in the last few weeks. In this way, employers are interfering with the recreational behavior of their employees. This is something that also goes against the grain of data protection officers. The consumption of hemp edible oil or CBD hemp can also lead to positive urine tests, which definitely makes the whole thing pointless (see edibles and CBD hemp).

But unfortunately, there are more and more companies that control their employees - mainly for illegal substances, of course. This still includes cannabis products. Alcohol consumption or the equally widespread abuse of various medications, on the other hand, are less frequently controlled – another inequality.

An increase in this problem can be predicted for the future. In the USA, a great deal of testing is already being done – however, there are also companies there that say publicly that they do not monitor their employees with urine tests, but consider drug use to be a private matter.

Drug use is a private matter

General drug tests violate the right to privacy. This is also the view of the Swiss data protection commissioner – our urine is our business and not that of the employer. But if someone refuses to take the test, their chances of being hired go down. Some private boarding schools even only accept students who take the test – and are always negative.

Only a legalization of THC consumption can make it possible to better protect privacy in the hemp sector in the future.

The future

An actual industry is in the process of developing ever more accurate and ever finer tests. Unfortunately, hemp residues are easy to measure, whether in blood, urine, sweat or soon with new vacuum cleaner-like devices in pockets or even in rooms.

Table of Contents