If you were sitting around munching on Cheetos wondering if you could get the workers’ compensation carrier to pay for your marijuana, you are sorely mistaken.
In a blow to stoners injured on the job everywhere, SCF recently put out an official statement that they will not cover medical marijuana even if the injured worker has a valid registry identification card.
Medical Marijuana Legislation
Voters last year in Arizona approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act which allows cardholders registered with the State Department of Health Services to obtain or cultivate their own marijuana.However, SCF — the state’s largest workers comp carrier, takes the position that the law does not require an insurance company to cover the medical use of marijuana. Their justification is that insurance companies in several other states have taken the same position and that possession of marijuana is still a federal offense.
So if you just had your spine fused and the only thing that can take care of your pain is a little Acapulco Gold, you’re gonna have to talk to your other friends, because SCF is Bogarting the Doobie.
For more info see: https://www.scfaz.com/about_us/pubs_legal_briefs.php?load=pubs_legal_briefs_q4_10.html
Chad T. Snow is a workers’ compensation attorney in Tucson and Phoenix Arizona. He has never smoked marijuana although he did try to smoke shredded jerky once at Scout camp. He and his associates at Arizona’s Work Injury Firm can be reached at (520) 647-9000, (602) 532-0700.