Rhys Evans, producer of ALCO-Safe substance testing equipment says that South African employers need to come to terms with the implications of legal cannabis consumption, and most are unprepared.
He also says that cannabis consumers need to understand that the right to privately consume cannabis is not a free pass to come to work stoned.
Evans made these points in a report published in Engineering News on 16 May 2025 where he said that most companies in the country “do not have legally defensible substance abuse policies in place”.
Furthermore, he said HR departments needed to understand that the cannabis plant consisted of many compounds, not all of which affected functionality. Consuming CBD products were different from those containing THC.
He explained that THC and CBD came from the same cannabis plant but had vastly different interactions with the brain’s cannabinoid receptors.
He also says that employee use of CBD did not constitute substance abuse, and that consumption of “properly produced” CBD products should not be confused with psychoactive THC products which could cause physical and mental impairment.
“If CBD is produced correctly, it will not cause any high and will not [result in] a positive drug test” he said.
Unlike THC, CBD is often used for its medicinal properties, including pain relief, anxiety reduction and anti-inflammatory effects, said Evans.
“CBD is not psychoactive and does not cause any ‘high’ or impairment, nor is it illegal to use in a workplace.”
THC on the other hand could cause “poor decision-making, procrastination, higher rates of absenteeism, poor memory retention, lower task outcomes and higher risk of accidents”.
He suggested companies use proactive random testing for drugs to deter drug use, rather than testing based on suspicion, post-accident or pre-employment.”
He added that saliva tests are the best method to test for the use of drugs in the workplace, unlike alcohol testing, which is best done using a breathalyser, such as those supplied by ALCO-Safe, one of the leading distributors of such detection equipment.
“Saliva tests have a short window of detection and do not detect drug use that happened more than a day or two prior. With THC, it remains detectable only for two to eight hours, depending on the amount used, purity and a few other factors.”
Evans said many cannabis users have ‘misconstrued the new Cannabis for Private Purposes Act believing they “may openly use cannabis before entering the workplace”.
“This is not true, as cannabis use is permitted by an individual in private time and private space; however, they are not permitted to enter into a workplace while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs,”
He said most companies do not have legally defensible substance abuse policies in place.
“They also do not have the necessary procedures in place to properly mitigate the risk of substance abuse in their workplaces,” he said stressing that that an adequate programme will help to reduce and eventually stop substance abuse from becoming an issue in the workplace.
“Disciplinary actions vary greatly from company to company,” said Evans, adding that some companies allow for a first warning with a suspension, while others issue a final written warning and a requirement for rehabilitation or counselling.
“There are also companies that are extremely strict and, upon confirmation of a positive drug test, will dismiss an employee, especially in a situation where they work in a very high-risk job.”
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