Marijuana use while applying for Social Security Disability
People use marijuana for a variety of reasons. Some people use it to help calm their nerves, others to help with pain, others for recreational use. Whatever its alleged benefits are, marijuana use may affect your social security disability claim. In ths US over 20 million people use marijuana. 18 states have legalized recreational marijuana and 39 states have legalized medical marijuana. Medical marijuana prescriptions are becoming more routine. Many pain management providers are opting out of prescribing pain medications and steering their patients towards more holistic pain management including medical marijuana. First, it’s important to remember that though marijuana may be legal in your state, it remains illegal at the federal level, which is where all disability claims are handled. While the Social Security Administration hasn’t explicitly addressed the use of recreational (or even medical) marijuana by claimants, there is a longstanding policy to deny claims when drug or alc...