The Supreme Court of Minnesota, in a split decision involving two companion cases, held the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C.S. §§ 801-971, preempts an order made pursuant to the state’s Workers’ Compensation Law requiring... Read More

Agreeing that an injured employee had sufficiently shown that medical marijuana represented reasonable and necessary medical treatment under New Jersey’s Workers’ Compensation Act, the Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed a decision by a lower... Read More

The Supreme Court of New Hampshire reversed—for a second time—a decision of the state’s Compensation Appeals Board that had found workers’ compensation carriers for New Hampshire employers could not be required to reimburse an... Read More

In a case of first impression, a New York appellate court affirmed an order entered by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board allowing a medical treatment variance in the form of medical marijuana for an injured worker who suffered from continuing... Read More

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held a workers' compensation insurer need not reimburse an injured employee for the costs of medical marijuana in spite of the fact that the worker was evaluated for, and was issued, a certification to enroll... Read More

The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, in a case of first impression, affirmed a workers’ compensation judge’s finding that an employer was required to reimburse its employee for the employee’s use of medical marijuana... Read More

Signaling that at least in some cases, an employer and/or workers’ compensation carrier might be required to reimburse an injured worker for the cost of medical marijuana provided under New York’s version of the Compassionate Care Act, a state... Read More

In a decision that cast some light on the issue of medical marijuana use by workers’ compensation claimants in New Hampshire, but which did not answer all pertinent questions definitively, the state’s Supreme Court held that the Appeals Board... Read More

By John Stahl, Esq. The legal implications of decriminalizing limited marijuana-related activity in some states extend beyond basic challenges such as amending zoning laws to accommodate medical marijuana dispensaries. The associated increasingly large... Read More

The use of medically prescribed marijuana has been a controversial issue in California for many years. It is interesting that the issue does not come up more often in the workers’ compensation context. It may not come up more because marijuana is... Read More

In spite of the fact that the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. § 811, does not distinguish between recreational and medical use of marijuana—both violate the law—a New Mexico appellate court has held that an employer may nevertheless... Read More

The proverbial sky could fall soon for drug testing and drug policies Since 1970, marijuana has been listed as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, making the possession and usage of marijuana illegal under federal... Read More

June 15, 2015 No. 13SC394, Coats v. Dish Network In a highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Colorado unanimously held this week that an employer may justifiably terminate an employee for his off-duty conduct, despite the employee’s... Read More

Where an injured worker who had sustained work-related back injuries unsuccessfully sought “conventional” treatment for pain and discomfort and subsequently turned to the use of medical marijuana, the employer and insurer could be required... Read More