California Considers Banning Medical Cannabis For Workers’ Comp Recipients

OG Article

12 March 2025

Staff

California cannabis consumer and medical marijuana advocates are opposing a proposed regulation by the CA Division of Workers Compensation that would officially recommend against the use of cannabis to treat chronic pain in workers’ comp cases. The DWC is scheduled to hold a hearing on the rule on Friday, March 14th starting at 10 AM.

“The proposed rule flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that cannabis is effective in treating chronic pain and reducing the use of opioids and other prescription drugs,” says Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer. Cal NORML cited scores of scientific studies and the experience of thousands of California patients and doctors in testimony to the DWC along with an appendix of studies.

The proposed workers’ comp rule is based on a report by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, prepared by an ill-informed panel without expertise in cannabis medicine. The report fails to cite over 100 published studies showing benefits from the medical use of cannabis in treating chronic pain and reducing opioid use. (For a list see NORML website.)

The report from ACOEM, which has troubling ties to workers’ compensation insurance and drug-testing companies, conflicts with a comprehensive expert review by the National Academy of Sciences, which concluded: “There is substantial evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain in adults.”

It likewise conflicts with the recommendations of California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, which was established by the legislature to investigate the medicinal efficacy of cannabis. Based on its own research findings, the CMCR is recommending that the DWC reject the ACOEM’s proposal and instead list cannabis as a “recommended” treatment for chronic pain.

Chronic pain accounts for nearly half of all recommendations for medical cannabis. A Kaiser Health survey of pain patients in California found that 30% are using cannabis to help control their pain.

Multiple studies have found that access to medical cannabis is linked to declines in opioid abuse, reduced workplace injury rates, and reduced workers’ compensation payments. Cannabis appears to be particularly effective for neuropathic pain (or damaged nerves), a condition often resistant to standard treatment with opioids.

Several other states now allow workers’ comp payments for cannabis. An investigation by the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Division recently determined that insurers can safely support medical cannabis reimbursement and improve treatment outcomes in workers’ comp cases.

“The ACOEM recommendation is 180° in the wrong direction,” says Gieringer. “As the first state to legalize medical cannabis, California should be at the forefront in allowing injured workers to use medical cannabis, and compensating them for medical cannabis treatment.”