Cannabis and pilots

Many line pilots, training personnel, and aviation medical examiners worry nowadays about an increase of cannabis consumption by pilots. 

This is often described as a trivialization of the use of cannabis. Current misinformation seems to imply that younger pilots, early in their careers, are less conscious of the administrative and legal consequences of the use of marijuana, but the problem is not limited to young pilots. 

The discussion that follows constitutes a factual review of the consequences linked to consumption of cannabis by Canadian pilots in general.

To enjoy the privileges of their Canadian Aviation Document (recreation, private, or commercial licence), pilots must comply with Transport Canada requirements regarding intoxicating substances such as alcohol, medications, and other legal drugs. 

Pilots are also required to comply with Transport Canada requirements for illegal drugs as defined by federal legislation.

Intoxicated pilots are treated differently depending on whether they are prosecuted under the Canadian Air Regulation (CAR) or under Article 253 of the Canadian Criminal Code. 

The CAR applies to any circumstance in which cannabis was found in the pilot’s blood at the time the test was performed, whether the pilot was operating an aircraft or not or whether he or she was considered impaired or not. Under the Criminal Code, the pilot must be proven impaired at the time he or she was operating the aircraft or had custody of the aircraft.

Cannabis affects the brain’s neurotransmitters and impairs psychomotor skills and short-term memory (Baselt, 2001; Leirer, Yesavage, & Morrow, 1991). As a direct consequence of growing political and media awareness, budgets for research on cannabis, which were almost nonexistent in the past, are being increased, thus allowing scientists to study the potential beneficial effects of its active components for some illnesses as well as any long-term toxic effects.

It has been well demonstrated that today’s cannabis is several times more powerful than previous generations of plants. It has also been shown that it plays a key role in the emergence of serious mental conditions, such as schizophrenia, paranoia, hallucinatory psychosis, and mania, that may have otherwise remained latent in an individual (Bersani, Orlandi, Kotzalidis & Pancheri, 2002; Hambrecht, & Hafner, 2000). 

The associated abnormal behavior is incompatible with flying and can result in the suspension of a pilot’s Medical Validation Certificate (MVC) for an indefinite duration.

Structured air carriers require drug screening when hiring new pilots. Some pilots, who count on hiring being a foreseeable event, use cannabis but cease a few months before recruitment, then resume consumption once hired. 

Pilots should know that drug screening is also performed following serious aviation incidents, either by the carrier, the civil authority, or sometimes by the military in certain countries. 

Obviously, it is impossible to predict when or in which country an incident will occur, for example, a runway excursion, flat tire, or an inadvertent incursion on an active IFR runway.

The most frequent excuse invoked by pilots at fault is that they are the victims of secondary cannabis smoke from a few days preceding the screening. However, the screening tests are calibrated to eliminate levels attributable to secondary smoke exposure (false positive). 

When a screening test is positive, the candidate is considered to be a user, and the chain of administrative consequences begins immediately.

In Canada, a pilot testing positive for cannabis will lose his MVC with an automatic and immediate removal from flying duties. The length of the MVC suspension period depends on the active participation by the pilot in an approved rehabilitation program and on his close surveillance by a recognized multidisciplinary team. 

This type of program must be approved by Transport Canada and is presently in use within major unionized air carriers only. Experience shows that after three months of treatment a pilot can be reinstated to flying duties approximately eight out of 10 times but will remain on probation for a minimum period of two years.

The onus to prove rehabilitation is always on the pilot at the outcome of the therapy. Proving a successful rehabilitation to Transport Canada is a delicate process even when the pilot is treated by a competent team. 

He or she must be supported by fellow pilots specially trained in pilot assistance and by a group disability plan that provides compensatory income to allow the pilot to dedicate full time and energy to achieve the goal. Conversely, a pilot left to himself will see his suspension period automatically set by Transport Canada at two years. 

Without organized support and flight pay, proving his rehabilitation is extremely difficult. The suspension often extends beyond the initial two years and sometimes will end the pilot’s career.

When detected following an aviation incident, the presence of cannabis in the pilot’s body will void the pilot’s professional liability insurance, whether the intoxicating substance contributed to the incident or not. 

This consequence rapidly becomes a nightmare for the pilot’s family as well as the individual in the event a civil law suits for damages is pressed. In this case, the pilot not only can lose income but also savings and personal assets.