Insurers consider continuing to cover marijuana
By Justin Pritchard
The Associated Press
UKIAH, Calif. — A growing num
ber of medical marijuana users
whose backyard pot plants were
stolen by thieves or commandeered
by police have succeeded in getting
insurance companies to reimburse
them for the loss.
But just as medical marijuana
mm.
was beginning to gain acceptance as
an insurable belonging, the
Supreme Court’s recent ruling in an
Oakland, Calif., case has cast doubt
on the future of such payments.
The dollar amounts aren’t huge
— after all, the missing pot is sup
posed to keep one person healthy,
rather than be sold on the street,
where high-grade marijuana is more
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expensive than gold. But it’s real
money to a sickly policyholder. One
insurer paid $12,375 to a man who
lost three pounds of pot to an armed
intruder.
It’s not like anyone with a stash
can file a claim. Insurers, which are
state-regulated, don’t cover illegal
property.
But they generally agree that mar
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ijuana becomes a homeowner’s
bona fide personal property when
the policyholder has permission to
grow or possess it for medical rea
sons. That’s possible in the eight
states where medical marijuana
laws are in conflict with federal
drug laws — California, Alaska, Ari
zona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
Oregon and Washington.
Major insurance companies have
made at least a dozen reimburse
ments for medical marijuana, accord
ing to a series of interviews by The
Associated Press. Most of the claims
for stolen plants or harvested mari
juana have been filed in California.
The claims have forced insurers
to enter a legal gray area.
“How do you determine its val
ue? Who is going to be your expert?”
asks Lisa Wannamaker, a spokes
woman for Allstate, which has paid
four such claims in California.
“There’s no set process in place on
how to deal with it. ”
Any developing clarity disap
peared in May, when the Supreme
Court ruled that clubs dispensing
medical marijuana according to
state laws could not use a “medical
necessity” defense against federal
anti-drug laws. The court noted that
Congress declared that marijuana
has no medicinal value.
However, the justices said they
specifically did not rule on whether
states can experiment with their own
laws, or whether Americans have a
right to marijuana as a pain remedy.
None of the major insurance com
panies questioned said they had re
ceived new marijuana claims since
the ruling in May. A spokesman
says State Farm will deny future
claims. The other insurers say they
will give them renewed scrutiny.
At least three other companies be
sides Allstate have paid claims on
stolen medical marijuana in Califor
nia. They include the California
State Automobile Association,
Travelers Indemnity Co., and
OneBeacon, which made the pay
ments when it operated as CGU Cal
ifornia Insurance.
In September 1999, Robert DeAr
kland of Fair Oaks became the first
person known to be reimbursed for
marijuana through household in
surance. He received $6,500 from
CGU California Insurance for 13
marijuana plants seized from his
garage by sheriffs’ deputies.
In less than two years, the Califor
nia State Automobile Association
has made “less than six” such pay
ments, according to Joe Ponkovich,
CSAA’s manager of claims adminis
tration.
One was to a Ukiah man who re
ported that his backyard plants
were chopped down in September
1999. The man, an Air Force veteran
who has a doctor’s recommendation
to smoke marijuana for anxiety-re
lated problems, asked not to be
identified to avoid drawing more at
tention from thieves.
CS AA sent an investigator to talk
to local deputies, who confirmed he
was registered to grow the plants
and had filed a police report. The
Ukiah Cannabis Club helped assess
the plants’value.
He made the claim at the sugges
tion of a police officer and couldn’t
believe it when he got a $2,500
check for his five plants.
“You’ve got to go through the mo
tions and the paperwork. And that’s
what I did with the herb,” he said,
pointing to the insurance docu
ments that classified each seven
foot stalk under language protecting
policyholders against a loss of up to
$500 for “trees, shrubs and other
plants.”
Broadcasters
continued from page 1
mayer July 23 claiming the rule vio
lates the freedom of the press.
Two weeks ago, Sen. Rick Mets
ger, D-Welches, a former Portland
sportscaster, said he would seek
legislative action if the University's
final draft isn’t much different that
the current proposal. Bill John
stone, the CEO of the Oregon
Broadcasters Association, has
threatened to take the issue to court
if changes aren’t made.
On Friday, The Oregonian
opined that, “the concept is so ill
conceived in so many ways that
you have to wonder whether Uni
versity of Oregon officials go off on
a retreat each year to dream up new
ways to offend people and make
themselves look foolish.”
Moos said the University and the
Athletic Department are listening
to the concerns and that the policy
was not set in stone when it was
presented on July 11.
“We want to make sure we are
good listeners,” he said. “There
will be no action which we feel
abridges anyone’s First Amend
ment rights.”
Although broadcasters are threat
ening to take action if the policy is
n’t changed, ESPN Regional is not
threatening similar action if the
policy doesn’t go into effect as-is.
Regional Manager Tim Roberts said
he is confident the final draft will
quell media concerns and protect
his network’s contracted rights.
He said the procedure to draft the
proposal has been difficult because
in March a judge ruled the Univer
sity had to create a policy that ap
plied to all members of the media,
even though ESPN had a problem
only with KVAL’s “Inside the PAC”
program.
“It was an issue of one station,
one show,” Roberts said.
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