Medicinal cannabis patients and their families are being called on to submit their experiences with workplace drug testing to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, as advocates push for greater scrutiny of practices they say are deeply unjust.
Employers, industry associations, unions, and organisations such as Drive Change have also been invited to put forward their perspectives.
The deadline for submissions is December 8.
The push for patients to come forward follows a motion successfully introduced by Legalise Cannabis Victoria (LCV) in August to establish an inquiry into workplace drug testing.
The motion passed with unanimous cross-party support in the Legislative Council, as MPs acknowledged the importance of examining how medicinal cannabis patients are treated under current testing regimes.
The United in Compassion Symposium recently heard accounts of workers losing their jobs after returning a positive drug test for medicinal cannabis, or being pressured to cease their prescribed medication to keep their employment.
While a start date for hearings has not yet been set, the Legal and Social Issues Committee is required to deliver its findings by June 30, 2024 at the latest.
In a message to its members, LCV repeated its position that medicinal cannabis patients are being "treated as criminals when subject to workplace drug testing".
"It is unfair, it is discriminatory, and it is costing people their jobs and their livelihoods," the party told supporters. "It does not happen with other prescription medications.
"With your submission, we will see steps taken to change workplace drug testing practices so that this lawful prescription medication is not a bar to gainful employment.
"When a medicinal cannabis patient is not impaired by their medication, the medication they are prescribed by a doctor should not be a barrier to work."
The inquiry will cover a broad range of questions, including the existing legislative and regulatory framework governing workplace drug testing, how medicinal cannabis is treated relative to other prescription drugs, and whether current procedures provide adequate due process and natural justice for patients while still protecting workplace safety.
The committee will also consider whether existing drug testing laws and procedures amount to discrimination.
LCV MP Rachel Payne said during the August debate: "Patients do not choose to have a medical condition, and they do not choose which medicine is best for treating their symptoms.
"Lawfully prescribed medicinal cannabis patients are not behaving irresponsibly or trying to get away with anything. But they are testing positive in their workplace drug tests and they are being punished as if they were using an illicit drug. That is simply wrong."
Submissions can be lodged via the inquiry website.
