HASSLES FOLLOW DRUG CLAIM

A city garbage collector says he's being punished for blowing the whistle
on widespread workplace marijuana smoking and dealing -- a drug problem he
says continues to put the public at risk.

Darren Hunter said he's repeatedly notified city officials of heavy
on-the-job marijuana use among garbage collectors in Calgary's northwest --
only to face sustained harassment and a transfer to another worksite.

"In six or seven months, nothing has happened except I've been harassed and
spat upon," said Hunter, 33, who's worked for the city's solid waste
department for 19 months.

Hunter said he's had to share vehicle cabs with dope-smoking colleagues and
dodged garbage trucks operated recklessly by stoned drivers.

"People in the northwest communities deserve to know there's a good chance
the garbage truck drivers are high," he said.

"They're still smoking it and the foremen know it ... it's an everyday thing."

After alerting officials last summer, one employee was suspended for four
days under suspicion he'd been smoking dope on the job. The union has
launched a grievance in his support.

Hunter said the union has done nothing to support him in his struggle,
which he claims has included constant harassment from fellow staffers and
contempt from union officials.

"Nobody wants to make waves at all ... I've been told 'mind your own
business,' " said Hunter, who's served as a substance-abuse counsellor.

Solid Waste Services general manager Dave Griffiths said Hunter was
transferred to protect him from resentful colleagues and said his
substance-abuse and harassment complaints are being examined.

"We're always on our guard for (drug use)," said Griffiths. "We just need
to get details to know what we need to do to take appropriate action."

The head of Hunter's union said the body constantly repeats the message to
its members that on-the-job drug use is wrong.

And the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 37 said
the union has done all it can for Hunter, calling him paranoid.

"I know he thinks he's got a lot of problems and people are conspiring
against him, but it's not true," said Dan Donohue.