INSURING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Some Policyholders With Prescriptions Cash In After Pot Taken

Chris Miller was asleep when authorities raided his Citrus Heights home
early one morning in March 1999.

"I woke up with a gun to my head," he recalled of that day, when he and his
wife were arrested on charges of cultivating marijuana for illicit
purposes. "I was told, 'Don't move!' "

Miller, 48, said the pot was for his own medical use, and he fought for
months until all the charges were dropped.

Now, he is engaged in a new battle: He's trying to persuade Allstate
Insurance Co. to pay him about $9,000 for the loss of the 17 plants seized
by Placer County sheriff's deputies from his Allstate-insured home.

Miller maintains he was growing the pot under the provisions of Proposition
215, the successful 1996 California ballot measure that authorized
medicinal use of marijuana.

Allstate has offered Miller a settlement of $1,272, an amount he rejects.

"With that offer, after I get through with my legal fees and $500
deductible, I would be left with less than $75," Miller said.

Because the claim hasn't been settled, Allstate cannot publicly discuss it,
said Sue Francesconi, a spokeswoman for the company.

"I can assure you that we are working with Mr. Miller and his attorney in
good faith and we are currently negotiating," Francesconi said. "We want to
offer him a fair settlement ... and we will."

Insurance claims for lost medical marijuana are "a new issue for insurance
companies to grapple with," said Candysse Miller of the Insurance
Information Network of California, a trade association for the property
casualty industry.

"The law (Proposition 215) has only been on the books a short time ... and
there are a lot of intangibles that really haven't been sorted out, such as
proving the medical use of the marijuana and determining what the accurate
price is," she said.

Despite those issues, more and more insurers are reimbursing clients for
destroyed or stolen medical pot, Candysse Miller said, adding that policies
"vary from company to company."

Because of the confidential nature of settlements, it's difficult to
estimate how many there have been, she said.

At least three beneficiaries live in the Sacramento area.

Robert DeArkland, 71, of Fair Oaks became the first known Californian to
receive such a reimbursement through his household insurance.

Last summer, he received $6,500 from CGU California Insurance for 13
marijuana plants that were taken from his garage by Placer and Sacramento
County sheriffs' deputies on Oct. 1, 1998. DeArkland, who has arthritis and
prostate cancer, was charged with illegal possession and cultivation of
pot. He sought reimbursement after charges were dismissed.

In November, Ryan Landers collected $9,750 from Travelers Indemnity Co. for
the theft of two pounds of pot by three gunmen who invaded his Sacramento
apartment.

Travelers, provider of his renter's insurance, sent him the check 11 days
after the Nov. 4 home invasion.

"Travelers didn't even have the police report when it sent me the check,"
said Landers, 28, who has AIDS. "My settlement was quick ... I was very
satisfied."

An east Sacramento man who requested anonymity received $12,375 from CGU
California Insurance after an armed intruder took three pounds of marijuana
from his home in September. "It took about five months" to get the
settlement, said the man, who has HIV. "I was lucky in that I was dealing
with a company that had already awarded one settlement."

Officials for CGU and Travelers declined to comment on their respective
policies regarding medical marijuana reimbursements.

For Chris Miller, who first planted it in a shed behind his home in August
1998, marijuana turned out to be a miracle drug. He said it abated the pain
caused by arthritis and injuries he'd suffered in three disabling car and
motorcycle accidents.

When Placer County sheriff's deputies raided his home on March 18, 1999,
they ignored a framed note from his doctor reading, "I recommend cannabis
use for my patient, Chris Miller," Miller said.

Miller and his wife, Penny, were booked into the Placer County jail and
posted bail that night. By last fall, all charges against them had been
dropped.

The seized plants were returned to Chris Miller in November, but by that
time the plants had no medicinal value because they were dead, he said.

Late last year, Allstate notified Chris Miller that he was not covered for
the loss of the plants, which ranged in height from 6 to 32 inches.

When he continued to press the matter, he said he was subjected to "an
examination under oath" concerning his plants. The questioning, conducted
by an Allstate attorney named Jon D. Universal, who did not return a phone
call from The Bee, lasted 21/2 hours, Miller said.

"I had to pay an additional $500 to have my attorney present during the
examination," Miller said. "I've been treated like a second-class citizen
because I use medical marijuana."

If the Millers settle with Allstate, the company won't be breaking new
ground for itself. Allstate has previously paid at least one claim for
medical marijuana plants damaged during a fire along the West Coast,
Francesconi said.

The Millers also have filed suit in Sacramento federal court charging that
the raid violated their civil rights.

Seeking unspecified damages, the suit alleges the raid should never have
taken place and was made worse because it was carried out in Sacramento
County by Placer County deputies.

Officials in Placer County did not respond to calls for comment.