'We looked at the substance use policy and have moved to a fit-for-duty policy rather than a zero-tolerance one'

More than three years after recreational cannabis was legalized, a total ban on its use among uniformed Calgary Police Service members has ended.

As of Tuesday, sworn off-duty CPS personnel are allowed to consume the drug as long as it doesn’t interfere with their duties.

While RCMP and the Edmonton Police Service have upheld a complete or de facto ban on the drug’s use, the Calgary service has charted a different path after studying the experiences of other agencies with a more liberal approach, said Andrea Urquhart, the CPS’s executive director of human resources.

“We looked at the substance use policy and have moved to a fit-for-duty policy rather than a zero-tolerance one,” said Urquhart.

“There’s no evidence this particular change would be detrimental to our fundamental goal to serve and protect.”

That amended policy also applies to other substances, such as prescription drugs, and was made “with an abundance of caution,” she said.

The change affecting the service’s 2,100 sworn members follows lobbying by the Calgary Police Association and its Alberta counterpart, said CPA president John Orr.

“We think it’s an appropriate policy — it strikes a balance between rights and safety,” said Orr.

The issue hasn’t been a pressing one for his members but has been a point of principle, he said.

“There has not been a push by my membership — this is simply about how much control an employer has on personal lives, and we trust police officers to exercise their powers responsibly,” said Orr.

The change, he said, has been influenced by research and the experience of recreational legalization that hasn’t led to an increase in social disorder, he added.

Police in Canada spent nearly a century cracking down on possession and distribution of cannabis, and still enforce laws prohibiting its sale outside the licensed marketplace.

When legalization kicked in, police services in Vancouver, London, Ont., and Ottawa allowed off-work pot consumption among its members as long as it didn’t affect job performance.

“(Liberalization) is not unheard of and in Vancouver, it’s been my understanding there’s been no issues at all,” said Orr.

Other police forces at that time considered banning cannabis use within 28 days of a shift, eyeing the fact traces of its active ingredient THC remain in the body long after consumption.

Critics, including leaders of police associations, called that rule de facto prohibition and ridiculous, noting that THC presence in the body often doesn’t denote impairment.

Orr said it’s hard to say how many CPS members consume cannabis.