Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Train shunter reinstated after wrong herb put in his pasta sauce

A senior Australian train shunter sacked over a positive drug test has been reinstated after an appeal found he accidentally ate cannabis in pasta sauce, thinking it was "herbs".

Robert Dickson accidentally ate cannabis after his partner Megan Bailey chopped herbs on the same kitchen bench where she rolled marijuana cigarettes as she prepared food, Transport Appeal Board Commissioner David Ritchie ruled.



Mr Dickson, who has worked for Railcorp since 1984, said his partner kept a very "messy" kitchen. Ms Bailey was "smoking and preparing her cannabis and preparing the sauce for the pasta". She smoked up to 15 cones of cannabis a day, Mr Dickson told the tribunal.

Mr Dickson tested positive to cannabis on April 18 last year in a urine sample after returning from two weeks leave. The urine test occurred two days after the pasta meal. He was sacked on November 11 last year after the positive test but has been reinstated.

3 comments:

Gareth said...

Lets see then. He lives with somebody who is a very heavy cannabis user. He spends two weeks leave presumably with his partner. And we are supposed to believe he does not occasionally partake himself?

Anonymous said...

Hard to believe I know Gareth, but you'd be surprised how many people are so averse to smoking anything that they will avoid it entirely, even if they have a free supply to hand!

Ratz said...

I wonder how much he could get from second-hand smoke?