Social Security Disability and Marijuana

Social Security Disability and Marijuana

By Attorney Nicholas Wearne

Snow, Carpio & Weekley

A question some of my clients have asked me is how smoking marijuana could potentially affect their application for social security disability benefits.  I wish I had a hard and fast answer but unfortunately the law is unclear.  When deciding whether you should qualify for benefits an administrative law judge must take into consideration whether the use of drugs and/or alcohol is a contributing factor to why you are disabled.  They must determine whether your condition would continue to exist if you were not consuming drugs or alcohol.  If drugs and alcohol are a contributing factor could lead to a denial.

I recommend that all my clients remain off any drugs that are not prescribed by a doctor including alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana.  Better to be safe than sorry as far as recreational drug use is concerned.  However, if marijuana has been medically prescribed, the law becomes less clear.  In many states medical marijuana use has been legalized even though all use of marijuana is illegal under federal law.  I have seen it used for treating progressive diseases as well as terminal ones like an advanced cancer.

A social security applicant who is considering using medical marijuana should take several things into consideration although my advice is ultimately proceed if you are comfortable with the risk. First, consider the fact that under federal law marijuana is illegal and social security disability is a federal program.  Second, remember that every social security judge is different.  They each have their own opinions and biases.  If the judge does not believe that the medical use of marijuana should be legal it may affect the judge’s decision.  Some judges are fine with it, some aren’t.  Finally, if you are going to use medical marijuana consider ways that you can show its use is for legitimate medical purposes.  For example, make sure you have a medical marijuana card, that you get it from a dispensary, and that its consumption is being prescribed by a doctor. Some doctors are even willing to write letters explaining why the use of marijuana is appropriate.  Make sure that all your doctors know about it.  Many pain management doctors for example will not allow you to be on both narcotics and marijuana.  If you are on both marijuana and narcotics and your doctor gets you in trouble for it, it could really hurt your credibility and ultimately whether you are approved for benefits.   In, sum proceed carefully and at your own risk.

For more information on Workers' Compensation or Social Security Disability, please contact Snow, Carpio & Weekley toll-free at 855-325-4781 or visit our website at www.workinjuryaz.com. We serve the entire State of Arizona and have offices located in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Lake Havasu City.

SCF Won't Buy Your Weed

 If you were sitting around munching on Cheetos wondering if you could get the workers compensation carrier to pay for your pot, you are soooorely mistaken.  In a blow to stoners injured on the job everywhere, SCF recently put out an official statement that they will not cover medical Maui Wowie even if the injured worker has a valid registry identification card. 

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 Mary Jane.  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 Wacky Tabacky.  Their justification is that insurance companies in several other states have taken the same position and that possession of Ganja 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 Snow, Carpio, and Weekley can be reached at (520) 647-9000, (602) 532-0700.