Medical marijuana has been legal in Illinois for several years.
There are still a number of questions regarding how the Courts will treat it in the context of a work injury.
For instance, is an employer required to pay for it if a doctor prescribes it for the treatment of a work place injury?
There is a reference in the medical marijuana law that an insurance company may not be forced to pay for medical marijuana.
However, the Work Comp insurance company is different from a health insurance provider.
The other interesting issue is that an employer may have policies that result in termination for testing positive for marijuana.
What happens if you use marijuana for your treatment, and return to work? Then you test positive and are fired.
All kinds of fun issues will result from the interplay of these two laws.
In addition, it looks like recreational marijuana will be soon legal in Illinois. This will just add to the unknown effects of marijuana laws and the Illinois Workers’ Compensation law.
Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Work injury Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.