Cannabis referendum: Why the construction industry is worried weed will be legalised

NewsHub 24 July 2020
Family First Comment: “We’ve got a limited pool of people already, potentially going to be more limited. [It] might encourage people to use drugs more, become more dependent on drugs.”
A survey of almost 200 civil contracting companies found more than 66 percent worry that legalising cannabis will negatively affect them.
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Some construction companies warn they’ll face a shortage of workers if cannabis is legalised in the referendum.

The high-risk industry will continue to test its workers even if it is legal, and worries that will rule out a large group of employees.

Drug testing on construction sites is common practice.

“It’s a zero-tolerance policy, we test pre-employment, we test on incidence and we test randomly,” said David Howard, Managing Director of Construction Contracts Ltd.

Howard worries it will make it even tougher to find workers.

“We’ve got a limited pool of people already, potentially going to be more limited,” he told Newshub. “[It] might encourage people to use drugs more, become more dependent on drugs.”

A survey of almost 200 civil contracting companies found more than 66 percent worry that legalising cannabis will negatively affect them.
READ MORE: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/cannabis-referendum-why-the-construction-industry-is-worried-weed-will-be-legalised.html