TC Medical Deferral - Substance Use

[darnbrook]

Hello

My cateogry 2 medical was recently deferred due to 'substance use' -- I disclosed previous cannabis use with my CAME which seems to have raised some additional requirements from Transport Canada including drug testing & physician reports. I haven't consumed any cannabis for 7 months now so no issues passing any tests etc., but I'm pretty confused about some of the reports they're asking for and the overall process.

Reaching out to TC & my CAME hasn't clarified much so I was hoping there was somebody else on the forums who has gone through this process before who I could reach out to and ask some questions. Please DM me if so!

Thanks all

[Core]

I can't help unfortunately, I'm sorry, but I have to comment on the absolute lunacy of this witch-hunt over pot. I'm so sick of it, and I can only hope that while we've come a long way with legalization and re-acceptance in many venues as legitimate medicine just as it was for 1000's of years, this garbage will soon be behind us.

As a pilot, (Or in your case ATC) if you need to wake up at 3am you can take any sort of synthetic, expensive, addictive and harmful sleep aids that will no doubt leave you feeling terrible the next day while cracking the door to dependency. But, you can't take the one natural item that can knock you out without any ill effects because of a smear campaign by prohibition-era religious zealots in the US.

Hell, even cops and CBSA in Canada are allowed to indulge as long as they're off duty. That's it.

My advice to anyone who smoked a joint 5 years ago or recently; just don't tell TC, the repercussions don't make sense right now and have no basis in science. Not all rules are perfect and must be blindingly followed.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

Hello

My cateogry 2 medical was recently deferred due to 'substance use' -- I disclosed previous cannabis use with my CAME which seems to have raised some additional requirements from Transport Canada including drug testing & physician reports. I haven't consumed any cannabis for 7 months now so no issues passing any tests etc., but I'm pretty confused about some of the reports they're asking for and the overall process.

Reaching out to TC & my CAME hasn't clarified much so I was hoping there was somebody else on the forums who has gone through this process before who I could reach out to and ask some questions. Please DM me if so!

Thanks all

Have you started training? If so, have you joined CATCA yet? (The controller's union). If yes and yes, I'd reach out to your Union rep and see if they've dealt with anything like this.

[darnbrook]

Have you started training? If so, have you joined CATCA yet? (The controller's union). If yes and yes, I'd reach out to your Union rep and see if they've dealt with anything like this.

I have an offer (that I've accepted) to start training within the next 6 months. Haven't joined the union unfortunately.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

Reaching out to TC & my CAME hasn't clarified much so I was hoping there was somebody else on the forums who has gone through this process before who I could reach out to and ask some questions.

Did your CAME originally accept your medical but it was TC that overrode them and deferred it? And if it was TC that deferred it, didn't they include any information on what the next step in the process would be? They should have sent some sort of letter stating exactly what you have to do to satisfy them.

If your CAME gave you the "OK" but it was TC that deferred it, I would make an appointment with your CAME to go in and discuss the matter in person. They'll know (or should know) what the next steps should be and can get in touch with the Regional Aviation Medical Officer (RAMO) who can push things along.

Seeing as you have 6 months until you start training, I'd hold off telling NavCanada about this issue just yet. You may find it gets resolved after speaking to your CAME. If it's getting close to the start of training however, you should tell the NavCanada hiring team that you're still waiting on your medical. They may defer you to the following course, but I also know people who started generic training without a medical yet in hand.

[darnbrook]

Thanks very much for your replies, and sorry in advance for the wall of text

Did your CAME originally accept your medical but it was TC that overrode them and deferred it? And if it was TC that deferred it, didn't they include any information on what the next step in the process would be? They should have sent some sort of letter stating exactly what you have to do to satisfy them.

If your CAME gave you the "OK" but it was TC that deferred it, I would make an appointment with your CAME to go in and discuss the matter in person. They'll know (or should know) what the next steps should be and can get in touch with the Regional Aviation Medical Officer (RAMO) who can push things along.

Seeing as you have 6 months until you start training, I'd hold off telling NavCanada about this issue just yet. You may find it gets resolved after speaking to your CAME. If it's getting close to the start of training however, you should tell the NavCanada hiring team that you're still waiting on your medical. They may defer you to the following course, but I also know people who started generic training without a medical yet in hand.

When submitting the medical, my CAME noted there may be some additional requirements from TC so I wasn't blindsided.

The letter from TC did list next steps but they are somewhat confusing.

For one, there are two categories of substance abuse requirements: 'mild' & 'moderate/severe', but they did not say which of those I fall under. I inquired with TC via their online question form (suggested by CAME) but the question wasn't answered.

Second, one of the requirements is "attendance in an aftercare program" -- over the past 12 hours I've gotten a referral from my CAME to reach out to a psychologist speciailizing in addictions to have a consultation and draft a report, but the psychologist was also confused about this requirement as these aftercare programs typically only accept people who have gone through fulltime substance abuse programs beforehand. Given the duration I have abstained from cannabis they indicated this didn't make a lot of sense.

I am hoping between the clean drug tests & more detailed report from the addictions psychologist, the RAMO can form a better picture of my suitability for a medical certificate. On the other hand it feels like I am being tossed around and given conflicting information so I wanted to hear from others if there's a real path to success here.

Seeing as you have 6 months until you start training

It's on the shorter end of this timeline, I just don't want to dox myself with an exact date.

When do you think it would be appropriate to reach out to NavCanada? Do they care about the details of the delay, or is it a matter of either having a certificate or not? Additionally the TC letter states my certificate would be restricted (ie. "with another ATC") for 6 months -- I presume this wouldn't be an issue as training/OJT are much long than this but does this raise any flags with NavCanada?

[kevenv]

When do you think it would be appropriate to reach out to NavCanada? Do they care about the details of the delay, or is it a matter of either having a certificate or not? Additionally the TC letter states my certificate would be restricted (ie. "with another ATC") for 6 months -- I presume this wouldn't be an issue as training/OJT are much long than this but does this raise any flags with NavCanada?

Nav doesn't care about medical conditions / details. They only want to know if you have a Cat 2 or not and any restrictions. In your case I would let them know as you get closer to training that you are still working on your medical and that when it comes through it will restrict you to working with another ATC for 6 months. I know you can start your ab initio training without a medical but when comes time for you to talk to real airplanes in the specialty training, lack of a medical is a show stopper.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

When do you think it would be appropriate to reach out to NavCanada? Do they care about the details of the delay, or is it a matter of either having a certificate or not? Additionally the TC letter states my certificate would be restricted (ie. "with another ATC") for 6 months -- I presume this wouldn't be an issue as training/OJT are much long than this but does this raise any flags with NavCanada?

Nav doesn't care about medical conditions / details. They only want to know if you have a Cat 2 or not and any restrictions. In your case I would let them know as you get closer to training that you are still working on your medical and that when it comes through it will restrict you to working with another ATC for 6 months. I know you can start your ab initio training without a medical but when comes time for you to talk to real airplanes in the specialty training, lack of a medical is a show stopper.

+1 to what kevenv said. Reach out to your Nav hiring contact, explain that you're simply waiting on a couple details before the medical can be issued.