Substance use and work
With the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, questions have been raised about patterns of cannabis use at work, the use of cannabis to treat work-related injuries, and the implications of such uses for work productivity, workplace health and safety and work disability management. IWH research examines these questions, as well as questions about the use and effectiveness of narcotics or opioids to treat pain, including pain associated with work injuries, and patterns of opioid-related harms among workers.
Featured
Research Highlights
Severe pain, not pressure to return to work or lack of accommodation offer, linked to opioid use post-injury
An IWH study found that among a group of injured workers in Ontario, those who experienced severe pain were more likely to use opioids than those who had no or only mild pain.
Published: February 12, 2025
Issue Briefing
Cannabis use by workers before and after legalization in Canada
Since 2018, when non-medical use of cannabis was legalized in Canada, a pair of Institute for Work & Health (IWH) studies was conducted to explore the implications of this change for workplaces. This briefing sums up their findings.
Published: December 5, 2024
Research Highlights
Severe pain, not pressure to return to work or lack of accommodation offer, linked to opioid use post-injury
An IWH study found that among a group of injured workers in Ontario, those who experienced severe pain were more likely to use opioids than those who had no or only mild pain—regardless of whether they felt they had to return to work too soon, or were offered work accommodations.
Published: February 2025
IWH in the media
Injured workers have higher rates of opioid poisonings than the general population.
People who have previously experienced a work-related injury are more likely to experience opioid poisonings and other opioid-related harms than the general population. That’s according to research conducted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC), using data from 1.7 million Ontario workers who had an accepted lost-time workers’ compensation claim between 1983 and 2019.
Published: Rehab & Community Care Medicine , February 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Opioid use among injured workers: pain and the return-to-work experience
Published: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, February 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Employment quality and suicide, drug poisoning, and alcohol-attributable mortality
Published: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 2025
IWH in the media
Analysis: Employees no more likely to consume cannabis during work hours following legalization
Marijuana legalization is not associated with an uptick in the percentage of employees consuming cannabis either during or prior to work, according to data provided in a briefing paper by the non-profit research organization Institute for Work & Health.
Published: NORML, January 2025
Issue Briefing
Cannabis use by workers before and after legalization in Canada
On October 17, 2018, the non-medical use of cannabis was legalized in Canada. To examine the implications of this change for workplaces, the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) embarked on two research projects. The studies explored changes in cannabis consumption habits among workers; changes in their perceptions about such consumption; associations between cannabis consumption and occupational injury risks; as well as the use of cannabis to treat symptoms in the aftermath of a work-related injury/illness. This Issue Briefing provides an overview of findings from these two studies and the potential implications of this research for employers and policy-makers.
Published: December 2024
Research Highlights
In which occupations are Ontario workers who had a work-related injury most at risk of opioid-related harms?
Formerly injured workers in certain occupations are at an elevated risk of experiencing opioid-related harms, according to a study by IWH and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre. Looking within a large sample of formerly injured Ontario workers, occupational groups with greater risks of harms included construction, forestry and logging, materials handling, and processing.
Published: October 2024
News release
News release
Injured workers have higher rates of opioid poisonings than the general population: study
Published: October 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Risk of opioid-related harms by occupation within a large cohort of formerly injured workers in Ontario, Canada: findings from the Occupational Disease Surveillance System
Published: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, October 2024
IWH in the media
Construction ranks high among occupations harmed by opioids: IWH study
A recent academic article with an Ontario focus offers new insights into the links between workplace-related injuries and opioid harms, with certain occupations including construction found to be at particularly high risk, writes Don Wall
Published: Daily Commercial News, June 2024