When Workplace Insurance Covers Medical Marijuana
It doesn’t matter how many states legalize cannabis or how many millions of people use it, most of their jobs will still be at risk from the often crushing impact of a positive drug test.
If employers want to fire workers for using cannabis — even off the job — they are legally allowed to do so. State and federal “drug-free workplace” laws allow it and the courts have upheld it in the face of several legal challenges.
On the other hand, if you’re retired and in pain? Those same courts say your former employer’s health care plan is financially on the hook for hooking you up.
Greg Vialpando, 58, is a disabled former auto repair worker living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He told the New York Times that he replaced the opiates he’d used to combat pain for a decade with medical marijuana.
“I would recommend that people use medical marijuana over opioids any day,” he said.
Vialpando took his story to state lawmakers who were considering legislation exempting employers from paying for medical cannabis. His story helped to convince them to drop the bill.
Vialpando’s wife, Margaret, said she feels like medical cannabis has saved her and her husband’s quality of life and hopes it will continue to be available to him in the future.
“I feel like I’ve gotten my husband back,” she said. “His personality has come back to the person that he used to be.”
Continue reading this article at CannabisNow.com
