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Medical Marijuana and Your Workers' Compensation Claim
Posted by: Amy Eaton-Fitzpatrick
December 20, 2011

In November 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20, which legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes by patients with certain debilitating medical conditions. Since November 2000, the number of medical marijuana users in the state has grown. This creates complications for a workers' compensation claim.

Pinnacol Assurance, one of the biggest insurers for workers' compensation injuries in the State of Colorado, put out a newsletter in February 2010, suggesting several ways in which an injured worker can be penalized for using medical marijuana. For example, Pinnacol Assurance points out in its newsletter that, although medical marijuana has been legalized in Colorado, it remains illegal on a federal level. As a consequence, physicians are only permitted to "recommend" medical marijuana, not prescribe it. Because medical marijuana cannot be "prescribed," it qualifies as a "not medically prescribed controlled substance," and the presence of marijuana in your system allows a workers' compensation insurer, such as Pinnacol, to reduce your indemnity (i.e., wage replacement) benefits by 50% for intoxication or for violation of a safety rule if it is found in your system at the time your work injury occurre

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