LEGAL UPDATE - Medical Marijuana Reclassification and Minnesota Workers' Compensation
The blunt rotation (back to litigating medical marijuana in Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Claims after reclassification to a Schedule III controlled substance).
Employers and insurers in a workers’ compensation action are liable for the payment or reimbursement of medical care that is reasonable, medical necessary, and causally related to a work injury. Minn. Stat. § 176.135. Medical marijuana first became legal in Minnesota in 2014, and qualifying conditions for a prescription included, among other things, cancer, seizures, chronic pain, PTSD, and terminal illnesses. However, even though medical marijuana was legal in Minnesota, the federal Controlled Substances Act seemingly prevented employers and insurers from legally paying for or reimbursing employees for it.
The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld this prohibition in two cases decided on October 13, 2021: Musta v. Mendota Heights Dental Center, 965 N.W.2d 312 (Minn. 2021) and Bierbach v. Digger’s Polaris, 965 N.W.2d 281 (Minn. 2021). The Court went on to describe that Schedule I controlled substances – the most restrictive level – cannot be lawfully prescribed under 21. U.S.C. § 812(c)(c)(1). Schedule I intended to regulate controlled substances having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and lacks accepted safety for use of the substance under medical supervision. 21 U.S.C. § 812(b)(1). Of course, there was a clear contradiction between the federal law’s prohibition and Minnesota law allowing medical marijuana to be prescribed for certain conditions. Under our workers’ compensation laws, a compensation judge’s order to pay for or reimburse and employee for medical marijuana essentially compelled the employer and insurer to “aid and abet the possession of Cannabis under federal law.” Therefore, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that federal law preempted Minnesota workers’ compensation law, and employer and insurers could not legally pay for or reimburse injured employees for medical marijuana.
Recently, however, the Federal Department of Justice signed an Executive Order moving for the reclassification of medical marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance. This would place medical marijuana in the same category as prescription Tylenol with Codeine, anabolic steroids, and testosterone. But will that mean revisiting the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decisions in Musta and Bierbach? Perhaps. Schedule III controlled substances continue to carry the same potential criminal liability for aiding and abetting, which was the Minnesota Supreme Court’s basis for upholding the prohibition.
Heacox Hartman, P.A., continues to monitor these changes and how it will affect our clients. If you see a resurgence of requests for medical marijuana, contact us right away!
Summary prepared by Attorney Chris Wehr