Minnesota: High Court Nixes Mandatory Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana Claims

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 an employer to reimburse an injured employee for the cost of medical cannabis used to treat a work-related injury. The majority said the state could not force an employer to facilitate an employee’s unlawful possession of cannabis (illegal under federal law), either through accommodations in the workplace or with the employee’s purchase of the controlled substance. The majority also held the state’s Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to determine whether federal law preempts Minnesota law when it comes to medical marijuana for injured workers.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the co-Editor-in-Chief and Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law(LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Musta v. Mendota Heights Dental Ctr., 965 N.W.2d 312 (Minn. 2021)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 94.06.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see

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