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I do not know if I should report them and to who. I have noticed when I visit and park on a parking lot in the rear of the building, I have seen caregivers sitting in their cars with windows rolled down and there is a strong scent of pot in the air.
I believe the workers are smoking pot on the job, then returning to care for the residents, manage medications, bathe them and tend to their needs. I find this obviously upsetting and unacceptable.
What is ironic is that the Executive Director recently admonished my parents about drinking wine in the privacy of their room. However, she is not managing her employees to appropriate standards. I wrote a separate post on that.
What would you do? I question the quality of care now. Thanks

My daughter is an RN and one thing she does not do is smoke is pot. Her license could be revoked if found in a drug test. And that law that now allows employees to smoke it at work did not research well. Like alchohol it gives you a high. No one with a high should be working as a doctor, surgeon, health aide, LPN or Nurse. They should not be working with machinery. Driving cars or forklifts. Pot has its place, using it privately in your home. I am not against it but and time and place for it. And thats not at a workplace.
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BurntCaregiver Jul 29, 2024
There are certain professions where pot use is prohibited even when you're off duty.
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Most care facilites do not even allow smoking on their grounds. So, I'm surprised that these employees are taking such chances.

Using cannabis in any form (smoking, vaping, edibles, oil) is exactly the same thing as drinking on the job. If people are doing it while driving, that is the same as drunk driving and they get a DUI.

Pot - Alcohol = Same Rules.

Hopefully, you live in a state where smoking weed (unless it's for medical use) is illegal.

So, here's what I'd do. If I smelled weed burning in the parking lot of a care facility by the employees of that facility, I'd pull out a phone and make a video. Then that video would go straight to the police. It would also go to the state's Ombudsman with an explanation that the staff gets high on the job. In fact, the AL probably has cameras in the parking lot. Go to the cops.

Bring it to the administrator of the facility last. They know what's going on with their employees, but won't do anything about it. They know they can't personally make a big deal if the people baking in the parking lot are foreign or a racial minority. These two groups are what makes up most of the care staff in nursing homes and AL facilities. So if they get called out, they put away the weed and head straight for a civil attorney's office.

So deal with the police and the Ombudsman. Let them address this matter.
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Thank you everyone. I find this a bit distressing. The acceptance of pot smoking on the job just does not seem acceptable to me when workers are responsible for the safety and health of others. What if their judgement is impaired or reaction times are too slow? Pot is legal in my state, but I am not in CA or NY.

I did an online search and found an ombudsman for the county. I guess I feel like I am more likely to be punished for reporting. I hate to have my parents get the brunt of a tattle tale daughter. Also, with the attitude the ED displayed I do not think anyone there is an ally of mine. I find it sad when we have to accept treatment that just does not feel right.
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Anxietynacy Jul 29, 2024
I don't blame you, I would be also. It should never be used on a job, especially in a health care facility of any kind. The problem is do you have proof. It maybe a he said she said circumstances.
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I had an in home caregiver that would go out to her car on breaks, sit in her car with tinted windows and I'm sure was vaping weed. She quit on her own.

I had another one vaping in the house. Not sure if tobacco or weed. I fired her for other things.

Good luck,
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You report this to the administration. Make an appointment on Monday.
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Cannabis is legal here but IMO using it on the job is no different than drinking alcohol on the job, there's a time and place and that isn't it. I would bring up what you witnessed with the ED, beyond that I would let it go unless I noticed any performance problems.
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BurntCaregiver Jul 29, 2024
@cwillie

It's not your opinion weed being the same as drinking on the job. That's the law in the states where it's legal for recreational use.
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Apple, depends what state you live in. "On Sunday, September 18th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law, making California the 8th state in the U.S that does not allow employers to discriminate against employees who smoke weed during working hours. Sep 26, 2022"

38 states allow medical marijuana use at work

8 states allow recreational marijuana use at work,
CA, CT, MT, NV, NJ, N.Y., RI, WA

* Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont workers are protected, but through State Supreme Court rulings and not legislation.

https://www.ncsl.org/health/cannabis-and-employment-medical-and-recreational-policies-in-the-states
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waytomisery Jul 28, 2024
I hope that there are exceptions to these laws .
For example you wouldn’t want your surgeon high on pot while doing surgery . Or any healthcare worker in general ,
Your pilot , air traffic controller , school bus driver, etc . where the employee has other’s lives in their hands .
That’s a lot different than the guy stocking shelves in the supermarket who smokes it on his break .
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There is an ALF a few blocks away from my house . The employees are not allowed to smoke on campus for about the past year . They drive and sit in their cars at the far end of my street , not near my house . I don’t know what they are smoking. I drive past them .

There would be no way for admin to know what they were smoking .

You can certainly complain , I would be upset as well . However , I believe the result may be that they ban smoking on campus and then these employees will be like the ones at the end of my street so admin does not have to manage it in the parking lot .

Like already said , you could ask if they do random testing , or if they test if someone notices pot smell on them when they come back from break .
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Are you 100% certain it’s pot? What do you think pot smells like?

No workplace would allow that on premises. Even in states where it’s legalized, it’s like alcohol. Legal to have but not legal to drink on the job. And facilities usually drug test employees at some point.
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My mother was a smoker. I grew up dealing with the highs and lows that she experienced due to her addiction to tobacco. If she’d just had a cigarette, she was in a decent mood and could handle things, such as remembering to unload the washing machine or handling a child’s needs. As the hit wore off she’d get testy and impatient, and nothing would fix her mood except another cigarette. As a child, I didn’t understand why she was this way. It’s not an easy way to grow up. Needless to say, that’s why I never used anything addictive. I wouldn’t put my family through trying to cope with an addict.

Neither would I want any LO of mine to be caregiven by an addict. How can a caregiver give their best care when they are coming down off a high and all they want is the next hit of nicotine or other drug? Would I want my LO subjected to the mood swings of someone craving their addictive substance? Of course not.

OP, you are right to be concerned. If that’s going on in what should be a safe place for your LO, you should take it very seriously.
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lealonnie1 Jul 28, 2024
Smoking cigarettes is legal. Are you suggesting a person who smokes should not be hired as a CG due to their nicotine addiction??
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I know that some states have legalized smoking marijuana, so if your parents state is not one of them, then I would report this to whoever is in charge or even the ombudsman.
I personally wouldn't want someone high on anything looking after my loved one.
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The smoking area at so’s ccrc is usually occupied by staff with vape pens.
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funkygrandma59 Jul 27, 2024
Vaping is quite different than smoking pot PeggySue.
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