Conduct Unbecoming

"I do not have a firearm. I'm still a police officer, but I'm in administrative support, so I work behind a desk. I've seen some of the comments about handling a firearm while on marijuana -- if I did [have a gun] it wouldn't affect my ability to carry out my duties."
"Yeah, I'm not getting high. If I smoke multiple joints, then I'm getting high. But if I smoke one, it does not get me high. What happens is that your body adjusts to the THC level. It would be the same as someone drinking one beer, the level of alcohol in your body is not enough to make you impaired."
"It calms me down. My autonomic nervous system and endocrine system comes to a resting state, and when it comes to a resting state like that, you're able to focus. There are so many symptoms of PTSD: hot flashes, panic attacks, anxiety, all of that is gone. I've been in stressful situations since I started to smoke marijuana and it's helped me immensely."

"Kids 8 to 12 years old trying to light me up, trying to light 20 of us up. On top of that, we've had other situations where I've had to shovel childhood friends into body bags. I've had to charge my sister.  I've had to charge my brother. There was a plot to kill me as of last year -- that's what led me to being diagnosed with severe PTSD. The guy had guns and he was going to shoot me."
"Yeah, my anxiety level is down, sleep is down, my energy levels are up. Before I couldn't even get out of bed. Now I wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning, and I'm up and let's get going. I have my coffee, I have my joint and start my day fully awake and fully aware."
RCMP Corporal Ron Francis, Fredericton

Cpl. Francis thought about it, obviously. He was on a desk job, a temporary placement, and he wanted to return to active duty with the RCMP. He had twenty years on the job. He likes his job. He doesn't particularly like many of the stressors of the job, particularly those that happen to have placed him a situation where he had to professionally confront the criminal activities of old friends from his home on the Kingsclear First Nation reserve, much less that of family members.

As an RCMP officer of long standing it cannot be unknown to him that to appear in a Mountie uniform in public smoking pot, isn't the most felicitous of activities. Cpl. Francis does have a licence for medical marijuana to help him cope with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder he was diagnosed with last year. A condition which arose as a result of his professional activities, as far as he is concerned. His job conflicted with his personal life, in a manner of speaking.

He has felt aggrieved both by his condition, and by his claims that the administration of the RCMP has somehow failed him in particular and presumably others who may be in a similar situation to his own. His malaise compelled the authorities to assign him to a desk job to await full health recovery. His recovery to full health is conditional on the relief he experiences with the aid of a marijuana cigarette. One only at a time, he says.

It isn't clear why he felt it was incumbent upon him, as a veteran knowledgeable about the rules, presumably respecting of the reputation of the RCMP as a national policing agency, and the simple fact that marijuana, as a recreational drug enjoys a place in the current Criminal Code as a forbidden narcotic when it is not prescribed for medicinal use. Cpl. Francis had the certification he required to smoke pot, but why do so wearing his red serge uniform?

Cpl. Ronald Francis/CBC    In this supplied video Cpl. Francis is shown smoking what appears to be marijuana

 

He allowed himself to be filmed in full uniform smoking medical marijuana. The purpose being to 'raise awareness' about PTSD in the RCMP. To what end? It would appear that the RCMP has been accommodating to his need. Perhaps the fact that he is not permitted to carry a firearm while he is using the drug is what disturbs him so greatly. He has not exactly been circumspect.

"I'm trying to draw attention to the fact that the RCMP fails to have a program in place for proper [PTSD] screening for their members and proper information for their families"... so what, exactly, does this mean? His action compelled RCMP officers to be dispatched to his home on the reserve to claim his uniform. Although Cpl. Francis remains a member of the RCMP, it was requested of him to surrender his red serge.

 Cpl. Ron Francis arrives at RCMP J-Division headquarters in Fredericton to hand over his red surge uniform on Nov. 29, 2013. (CTV Atlantic)

"The RCMP wants my uniform, that's fine, but they're not getting my [20 years of service] medal. The medal is something I've worked for and earned. It's hard when you've believed in something for so long and you have to turn it in because they don't like your medical prescription", he said. He has been on administrative duties for almost a year. Simply because, sensibly enough, officers using mind-altering drugs are barred from operational duties.

Operational duties would be described as "including carrying a firearm, or operating a police vehicle, as this could pose a risk to themselves, a co-worker or the public", according to RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox. A perfectly reasonable set of rules. "We are continuously working to strengthen the support we can offer employees affected by operational stress injuries", read a prepared statement, emphasizing, said Sgt. Cox, that the force considers PTSD as a serious workplace risk.

"The Commissioner has made it clear both publicly and to the employees of the RCMP that if you get sick or injured on the job, we will look after you -- and we will do it fairly", concluded the statement. Cpl. Francis has been placed on fully paid medical leave.

"Having worn a uniform myself, I think they made the right decision. And I think he should accept that as well because if you're part of an institution like that, whether it's the Canadian Forces or the RCMP, you have to understand the importance of the values and respect that the uniforms -- in particular the red serge, one of Canada's probably most respected world images -- you have to preserve that. I think reasonable accommodation should be given, and I think the Mounties were providing that to him,"Conservative MP Erin O'Toole, former captain with the Royal Canadian Air Force