Is there overlap between Pennsylvania’s 2-year-old Medical Marijuana Act and the much much older Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act? You bet there is. Just look at the list of qualifying medical conditions for which a Pennsylvania resident may obtain medical marijuana—at least four of the 21 conditions could be “work-related” conditions:
- Neuropathies;
- Opioid use disorder for which conventional therapeutic interventions are contraindicated or ineffective, or for which adjunctive therapy is indicated in combination with primary therapeutic interventions;
- Post-traumatic stress disorder; and
- Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain.
Additionally, an injured worker may already be using medical marijuana for nonwork-related symptoms. So what does an employer need to know when dealing with an injured worker who is also using medical marijuana?