- Health care (medical aid) (marijuana)
The worker sought reimbursement for the costs of medical marijuana purchased from compassion clubs for the period of July 12, 2007 to December 2, 2018. In its decision, the Board reimbursed some of the worker's expenses but declined to reimburse the worker for medical marijuana that he purchased through various compassion clubs as there were no receipts to substantiate these purchases. The ARO noted that compassion clubs were not licensed producers under Health Canada.
The appeal was allowed.The worker created his own records with his signature itemizing each purchase, the amount purchased, and the source of the purchase. The worker's representative submitted that these records were contemporaneously made and provided accurate information as to the amount of money the worker spent to purchase his medical marijuana. The worker could not afford to pay Health Canada prices. The Vice-Chair found that this documentation accurately reflected the amount of money the worker spent in order to obtain his prescribed medical marijuana. The Board has previously accepted similar documentation from another worker who purchased medical marijuana from compassion clubs and was unable to provide receipts (see Decision No. 2335/06). Other decisions have also determined that a worker is entitled to reimbursement for medical marijuana in cases where the worker was unable to obtain receipts due to the medical marijuana being purchased at a compassion club (see Decision No. 2335/06R2). The Vice-Chair in Decision No. 491/12 adopted this approach and found that the worker had entitlement for reimbursement for the costs associated with the use of medical marijuana as if the worker had purchased it from Health Canada, for the time periods during which Health Canada authorized its use.The Vice-Chair concluded that the worker was entitled to be reimbursed for his medical marijuana purchased from compassion clubs for the period from July 12, 2007 to December 2, 2018, as if the purchases had been made from Health Canada. The worker was to be reimbursed in accordance with his itemized receipts, including his estimate for the six entries from April 3, 2018 to December 2, 2018 when he misplaced his records. The Vice-Chair accepted the accuracy of these expenses as it was consistent with his earlier documented expenditures.