INSURANCE PAYMENTS FOR STOLEN MARIJUANA STOP AFTER RULING

UKIAH, Calif. - A growing number 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.

The dollar amounts aren't huge: The pot is not sold on the street, where
high-grade marijuana is more expensive than gold. However, one insurer paid
$12,375 to a man who lost three pounds of pot to an armed intruder.

But just as medical marijuana was beginning to gain acceptance as an
insurable good, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court in an Oakland, Calif.,
case has cast doubt on the future of such payments.

The court ruled in May that clubs dispensing medical marijuana according to
state laws could not use a "medical necessity" defense against federal
anti-drug laws, which do not allow for medical marijuana.

The court didn't resolve the question of whether individual Americans have
a right to marijuana as a pain remedy.

Even so, State Farm will deny future claims for medical marijuana, and the
other insurers will give them renewed scrutiny, spokesmen said.

"It's clearly stated in the homeowners' policy that we will not pay for
illegal activities," said Lonny Haskins, the State Farm spokesman.

Insurers generally agree that marijuana becomes a homeowner's personal
property under state law when the policyholder has permission to grow or
possess it for medical reasons. That's possible in the eight states,
including Oregon and Washington.

Medical marijuana advocates say insurers are treating the court ruling as
political cover, not legal precedent.

"If an insurance company is looking for an excuse to save a few dollars and
deny a claim, I suppose they can use the court case as an excuse," says
Keith Stroup, executive director of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws.