Medical cannabis and HGV license

Greenuser:
I’ve been driving commercially on and off for the last 25 years.

:question: :question: You said a couple of days ago that you are starting your theory training in a few weeks.

Greenuser:
I spoke with my work coach today who promised me it won’t be a problem with my future employer

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: Well of course. He’ll tell you whatever you want to hear to ensure that your £3k transfers from your hand to his.

Moving forwards a few months :

Interview:

“By the way, I have a medical exemption certificate allowing me to smoke cannabis for pain relief as I see fit”.
“Oh! Do you? Er… OK! Well, we have your contact details, we’ll be in touch!”

DCPCFML:

Greenuser:
I’ve been driving commercially on and off for the last 25 years.

:question: :question: You said a couple of days ago that you are starting your theory training in a few weeks.

Greenuser:
I spoke with my work coach today who promised me it won’t be a problem with my future employer

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: Well of course. He’ll tell you whatever you want to hear to ensure that your £3k transfers from your hand to his.

Moving forwards a few months :

Interview:

“By the way, I have a medical exemption certificate allowing me to smoke cannabis for pain relief as I see fit”.
“Oh! Do you? Er… OK! Well, we have your contact details, we’ll be in touch!”

I start the theory for hgv. I’ve been driving vans for ages.

I’m not having to pay anything for the course

I won’t tell my employer until I’ve passed my probationary period, if I decide to tell them. It’s not compulsory to tell your employer about all your medical issues

Greenuser:

DCPCFML:

Greenuser:
I’ve been driving commercially on and off for the last 25 years.

:question: :question: You said a couple of days ago that you are starting your theory training in a few weeks.

Greenuser:
I spoke with my work coach today who promised me it won’t be a problem with my future employer

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: Well of course. He’ll tell you whatever you want to hear to ensure that your £3k transfers from your hand to his.

Moving forwards a few months :

Interview:

“By the way, I have a medical exemption certificate allowing me to smoke cannabis for pain relief as I see fit”.
“Oh! Do you? Er… OK! Well, we have your contact details, we’ll be in touch!”

I start the theory for hgv. I’ve been driving vans for ages.

I’m not having to pay anything for the course

I won’t tell my employer until I’ve passed my probationary period, if I decide to tell them. It’s not compulsory to tell your employer about all your medical issues

Yeah? Good luck with that one :smiley: . I can’t remember the last time a job I applied for didn’t have a medical health questionnaire to complete. Make false declarations on that then waiting out your probationary period won’t achieve anything as they’ll fire you straight out of the door for gross misconduct.

I don’t see how you’ll be able to hide it anyway. All pot smokers stink to high heaven, you can smell it a mile off. Your co-workers will grass you up before your first week is out, mark my words.

Greenuser:
I won’t tell my employer until I’ve passed my probationary period, if I decide to tell them. It’s not compulsory to tell your employer about all your medical issues

Brilliant! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

So according to you, you’re on the dole, getting valuable training for free and you’ll lie to trick a potential employer because you can’t do without drugs :laughing:

I really hope you are just a troll, (although I’m tempted to say we couldn’t write this as fiction) if you were a real person you’d be so utterly reprehensible to have such arrogance to think your drug habit would be more important than a company who would be prepared to give a chance to someone who was long term unemployed. I just hope to God if you are real and not a scum-sucking Troll, that you don’t live anywhere north of Yorkshire.

As DCPCFML says, you’d be straight out of the door as soon as anyone has a whiff of your habit, because as has already been said, you’d be a gigantic liability - in that respect I wouldn’t call it “grassing” to drop you in it with the TM and company owners, more like being a responsible employee, because other drivers would know what you are stubbornly refusing to acknowledge - someone like you (if you were real) could cause a company to go bust.

Here’s a very real scenario: you somehow manage to pass your test (and there are no guarantees for anyone); some poor sucker gives you a chance to learn the ropes working for his company.

You are involved in an accident (it does not necessarily have to be your fault) where someone is injured, perhaps even killed. Police, looking for any reason to up the ante (that’s just the way they roll…) notice a particular odour around you, they give you a drug test (it’s as simple as wiping your forehead with a wet wipe), you test positive, you’re arrested, which is always a risk for HGV drivers, with or without drugs in their system.

You’re likely to be charged very quickly, and if someone has died or was seriously injured, you’ll very likely be put on remand at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, a bit of a shock to the system as you can imagine.

For you there will be a trial, and if someone did die you will definitely get a substantial dose of porridge, around three years is not uncommon for HGV related fatalities. Porridge is still a real liklihood even in the event of serious injury.

Meanwhile, the poor sucker you lied to will find their insurance company very easily weaseling out of any payments, because the company did not have a no-drugs-under-any-circumstances caveat in their employment contract. They’ll also get investigated by DVSA, and quite likely have to undergo a Public Inquiry with the TC (which is just a court hearing by another name) where they may have their O licence curtailed (ie the number of trucks they can operate is reduced) which means some of the drivers will be looking for other jobs (because of YOU), or the company will get its O-licence revoked, which means the company ceases to trade, ALL the drivers are now looking for new jobs (because of YOU).

Your name will be equivalent to something people wipe off their shoes. You’ll be lucky to get any type of job in the future, you certainly won’t ever drive a truck commercially again, and… newspaper reports may very well give your full name AND address, so if you didn’t get locked up, you might end up wishing you had, because some of those people who’s lives have been disrupted by your drug use may take it a bit personally and wish to have a quite word with you.

Still think lying about a drug habit is acceptable?

Further reading:
trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 2&t=161216

blog.cansfordlabs.co.uk/hgv-dri … nd-the-law

Zac_A:

Greenuser:
I won’t tell my employer until I’ve passed my probationary period, if I decide to tell them. It’s not compulsory to tell your employer about all your medical issues

Brilliant! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Was my immediate thought as well. The guy is clearly smoking some good [zb]! Oh, wait… :unamused: :laughing:

DCPCFML:

Zac_A:

Greenuser:
I won’t tell my employer until I’ve passed my probationary period, if I decide to tell them. It’s not compulsory to tell your employer about all your medical issues

Brilliant! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Was my immediate thought as well. The guy is clearly smoking some good [zb]! Oh, wait… :unamused: :laughing:

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does anyone else think this thread has run its course and needs to be locked or is it just me :question:

No. I want to hear his updates after he gets his licence and tries to land a job. :smiley: I’m sure I’m not alone either.

ROG:
Does anyone else think this thread has run its course and needs to be locked or is it just me :question:

Yes please, lock it, I for one lack the willpower to ignore the insane career ambitions of our stoner OP :laughing:

What rule(s) does the thread break? Seems that some just want it locked because they don’t agree with it. :bulb:

DCPCFML:
What rule(s) does the thread break?

None (if it had then it would be dealt with appropriately) - it was just a suggestion as it seems to have run its course

DCPCFML:
What rule(s) does the thread break? Seems that some just want it locked because they don’t agree with it. :bulb:

My vote to lock it was because it’s like a car crash that you can’t help looking at, even though it’s a horrible sight. But obviously, from my previous comments, I don’t agree with anything the OP has said, and I’m more inclined to believe he’s a Troll, than give him the benefit of the doubt.

Zac_A:

DCPCFML:
What rule(s) does the thread break? Seems that some just want it locked because they don’t agree with it. :bulb:

My vote to lock it was because it’s like a car crash that you can’t help looking at, even though it’s a horrible sight. But obviously, from my previous comments, I don’t agree with anything the OP has said, and I’m more inclined to believe he’s a Troll, than give him the benefit of the doubt.

I actually think from his posts that he’s serious !

It needs to stay up, possibly pinned in the newbies or operators forum, as a perfect example of just who should never consider becoming a lorry driver.

Any operators reading this ■■■■■■■■ will if they have any sense be busily making enquiries about drug testing new and existing drivers in case someone like this has sneaked onto their payroll, a potential time bomb ticking away likely to utterly ruin their hard earned business.

DCPCFML:
I actually think from his posts that he’s serious !

HMB.jpg

Greenuser:
Hi guys

I have a medical cannabis prescription and legally use cannabis to help me relax. I only use it in the evenings after work so I won’t drive impaired.

Legally I am allowed to drive a car after consuming cannabis as long as I am not impaired but I would fail drug tests as it remains in your system for days after use.

I am unsure if I will be allowed to drive an HGV legally?

I am happy to discontinue use if I need to in order to pass the medical scheduled for 6 weeks time but after that I will need to continue medicating with cannabis and I’m hoping to find an employer who will be sympathetic to my medical needs. Do most employers or police perform random drug test? I don’t want to have the hassle of explaining my medical needs all the time. Not everyone is aware cannabis flowers are now a legally prescribed medication

A few things I noticed through this thread:

1)You say that cannabis helps you relax in this post, then later say its to unwind like how some people use wine, then later say its for pain. I don’t want to sound pedantic but these are quite different reasons to use the drug.

2)If you are using it for pain which other painkillers didn’t touch, you sound quite flippant about casually stopping it for 6 weeks. This seems like a difficult thing to do when (as you suggest elsewhere) you are using a gram a night. Also, if your pain is bad and requires a regular cannabis prescription, how would you be able to do a long HGV shift (including non driving, this could potentially be over 12 hours long) without your pain medication?

3)The legally prescribed limit for cannabis is 2mg in the bloodstream; so low that an average joint would take possibly 12 hours to get you below the limit, and perhaps even nearer 24 hours to be truly clear from the system for police drugs tests. Medicinal or not, that’s the prescribed limit. As far as I’m aware, a doctor can say you could drive up to the prescribed limit, but can’t give you permission to drive about the prescribed limit of a drug and override the law (correct me if I’m wrong). If you are using (as you imply in one post) a gram a night, thats a few joints a night. There’s no way you would be legal every time you got behind a wheel unless the cannabis contains basically no THC, and so would be risking others and your own career.

Personally I believe that the limit is a bit too low considering you can have a drink and drive, but either way its the law and you would get in trouble if you were pulled for driving unsafely, medicinal or not. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you ARE a medicinal user, in which case you have my sympathy, but if you are needing to use cannabis every day then unfortunately HGV driving isn’t for you.

This topic wasn’t started as a discussion point regarding the legislation of cannabis and I am sorry that some posters have posted here before looking at U.K. laws.

I also apologise that some people seem to be focusing on my personal medical needs, rather than their own.

Cannabis is a novelty medication, it will not benefit everyone. For me it relieves pain, stops muscle twitches and helps me to sleep. Someone else taking the same medication could have the opposite effects.

Obviously if some people wish to believe that cannabis is illegal for medical users despite there being ample evidence to the contrary then that is for them to believe and we shouldn’t waste our time trying to persuade them that a spade is a spade.

And likewise some people choose to remain oblivious and will attempt to remain so. I have no grief with these people.

I personally think we need simple minded people just as much as we need geniuses and I have no argument with these guys. I think there is no point in wasting any of our time by perusing conversations with people who are so one track minded that instead of popping their head outside to check the weather, they’ll go with whatever the daily mail is saying and tell us it’s all raining

Edit: repeated post

Greenuser:

heyholetsgo:

Greenuser:
Hi guys

I have a medical cannabis prescription and legally use cannabis to help me relax. I only use it in the evenings after work so I won’t drive impaired.

Legally I am allowed to drive a car after consuming cannabis as long as I am not impaired but I would fail drug tests as it remains in your system for days after use.

I am unsure if I will be allowed to drive an HGV legally?

I am happy to discontinue use if I need to in order to pass the medical scheduled for 6 weeks time but after that I will need to continue medicating with cannabis and I’m hoping to find an employer who will be sympathetic to my medical needs. Do most employers or police perform random drug test? I don’t want to have the hassle of explaining my medical needs all the time. Not everyone is aware cannabis flowers are now a legally prescribed medication

A few things I noticed through this thread:

1)You say that cannabis helps you relax in this post, then later say its to unwind like how some people use wine, then later say its for pain. I don’t want to sound pedantic but these are quite different reasons to use the drug.

2)If you are using it for pain which other painkillers didn’t touch, you sound quite flippant about casually stopping it for 6 weeks. This seems like a difficult thing to do when (as you suggest elsewhere) you are using a gram a night. Also, if your pain is bad and requires a regular cannabis prescription, how would you be able to do a long HGV shift (including non driving, this could potentially be over 12 hours long) without your pain medication?

3)The legally prescribed limit for cannabis is 2mg in the bloodstream; so low that an average joint would take possibly 12 hours to get you below the limit, and perhaps even nearer 24 hours to be truly clear from the system for police drugs tests. Medicinal or not, that’s the prescribed limit. As far as I’m aware, a doctor can say you could drive up to the prescribed limit, but can’t give you permission to drive about the prescribed limit of a drug and override the law (correct me if I’m wrong). If you are using (as you imply in one post) a gram a night, thats a few joints a night. There’s no way you would be legal every time you got behind a wheel unless the cannabis contains basically no THC, and so would be risking others and your own career.

Personally I believe that the limit is a bit too low considering you can have a drink and drive, but either way its the law and you would get in trouble if you were pulled for driving unsafely, medicinal or not. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you ARE a medicinal user, in which case you have my sympathy, but if you are needing to use cannabis every day then unfortunately HGV driving isn’t for you.

I’ve recently found that hemp flowers work very effectively for me during the day. I dislike using any cannabis that will impair my performance during the day (while potentially driving) but I enjoy using a high THC flower in the evening to aid pain relief, relaxation and sleep.

We all know the dangers of driving whilst impaired

Sleep deprivation is an impairment

I avoid sleep deprivation by using my prescribed cannabis indica 1 hour before I plan to sleep, this ensures I have a good sleep as and when required.

I agree, the limit needs to be changed. Obviously as a medical user I am exempt from the law regarding thc levels in blood whilst operating a vehicle but I really worry about others who are not yet medically exempt.

I am hoping when I am tested I will already have a medical exemption certificate in place and so I will not have any issues with the high amounts of cannabis, opiates and diazepam in my blood. The quantities of controlled substances in my blood would perhaps kill a new user, but, as I have slowly increased my usage, I have become adapted to using these medicines and they do not negatively affect me like they would someone else

There are many people who may be currently using cannabis as a natural way of dealing with their health issues who are not yet legally prescribed. When Project T21 is over hopefully new people will be able to access the medications they need on the NHS

Edit: spelling