INSURERS WARY OF CLAIMS OF POT LOSSES

After law enforcement officials confiscated 13 marijuana plants from Robert
DeArkland's home in 1998, the Fair Oaks man filed a claim with his home
insurance agent.

Before long, he said, CGU California Insurance Co., now called OneBeacon
Insurance, paid him $6,500 for his lost property. All DeArkland had to do
was show that a doctor had approved his use of marijuana for medical
reasons, which in his case was prostate cancer.

Collecting on such a claim might not be so easy today. After a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling in May prohibiting distribution of marijuana under federal
drug laws, some insurance companies began reviewing policies covering the
loss, theft or confiscation of the substance.

The high court ruling conflicts with California's Proposition 215, which in
1996 gave ill people the right to use marijuana for medical purposes.

"With the Supreme Court coming down in May with its decision, it might
change how we view these claims," said Bronwyn Hogan, a spokeswoman for the
Automobile Assn. of America, which offers insurance. "These claims are so
original, they're so novel, we need to look at them on a different basis."

Representatives of Allstate and AAA said their companies are reviewing
their policies and will decide whether to reimburse clients for medical
marijuana claims.

The claims are extremely rare, they said.

"In the past two years, we've had four," said Bob Daniels, an Allstate
spokesman. "Because of the fact that they're pretty rare, we really look at
them on a case-by-case basis."

AAA has processed six claims by people who lost their medical marijuana,
Hogan said.

State Farm Insurance has had none and does not intend to pay on any in the
future, said Elenore Williams, a company spokeswoman.

"We will not pay for illegal activities," Williams said. "As a result of
the Supreme Court ruling, State Farm will deny claims in the future for
medical marijuana."

Many of those involved with the issue in California say the Supreme Court's
ruling does not invalidate Proposition 215. Federal agencies would not have
the staffing to bring charges against the thousands of medical marijuana
users, and state courts have resisted convicting defendants using a medical
marijuana defense, they say.

Insurance companies should be cautious when handling these claims, said
Eric Shevin, a lawyer and coordinator for the Los Angeles chapter of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which advocates
legalized marijuana.

Shevin said refusing to pay could open them up to lawsuits.

Scott Imler, president of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, said
the club registers its members and issues them photo identification cards
to alert police to patients' rights to possess marijuana.

Imler said the center requires members to provide letters from their
doctors recommending marijuana for medical reasons. The letters are
verified with the doctor, whose license is verified with the California
Medical Board, he said.

Members cannot share a marijuana cigarette or carry more than one at a
time, he said.

"Sometimes our members get a ticket for having marijuana," he said. "[But]
we haven't had a single case go to trial in 4 1"2 years."

DeArkland emphatically supports the use of medical marijuana. "I smoke
between five and seven, sometimes eight, joints a day. It depends on the
pain," he said. "The people of California legalized medical marijuana."