'We're the mice on that track': Bar owners brace for cannabis legalization

Can you tell if someone is high?

Jim Bence says this is the question troubling bar owners across the province as the legalization of cannabis on Oct. 17 looms over the industry.

People who serve booze in Saskatchewan must now take a mandatory training course called "Serve It Right" on how to spot someone who is too drunk to be served more liquor.

In two months, another intoxicant will be added to the mix.

"We need to have some information and some guidelines as to what the responsibilities will be for us to recognize impairment from a grander perspective, not just from alcohol," said Bence, who is president of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association.

"But how is it that a server would recognize whether somebody is high? We don't know that right now, there really isn't training out there for us."

The stakes are potentially high for all involved. A year ago, SGI took legal action against two bars that served liquor to a woman who pleaded guilty to killing a family of four north of Saskatoon in January, 2016.

This issue in that case wasn't overserving. Rather, it turned on why no one stopped Catherine McKay from leaving the bar when she was grossly intoxicated.

It's not clear whether a similar suit could arise from a server not recognizing that someone in a bar was dangerously high on cannabis when they were served alcohol.

That uncertainly is what informs the concerns of bar owners.

"We're the mice on that track. We're the ones that are going to see how it goes," said Darwin McMaster at Somewhere Else Pub in Saskatoon.

"Then, I think they're going to start changing the laws and rules accordingly."

McMaster and other bar owners who spoke to CBC said servers have wrestled with recognizing drug impairment for decades. That's not a new issue.

What concerns them is what happens to their potential liability once cannabis is legal.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) says that the Serve it Right training program focuses on recognizing intoxication. On a practical level, for SLGA, it doesn't matter whether it's booze or drugs that cause the impairment.

"Permittees will still be responsible for assessing whether or not a customer exhibits physical signs of intoxication which includes cues such as bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, strong smell of liquor/drugs, etc.," Stephanie Choma of SLGA wrote in an email.

"At this time, there is no additional mandatory training specifically for liquor permittees as it relates to cannabis."