New Mexico is really stepping up and going in the right direction to help patients. The New Mexico high court has ruled that if your are injured on the job, your workers compensation must cover medical marijuana. If a doctor recommends that cannabis is reasonable and necessary for your treatment, that much be good enough for your insurance.
It sounds simple and obvious - doctors, patients, medicine, but it is still a groundbreaking ruling, that fortunately discounts the continuing federal prohibition on any legal marijuana use.
It should be good news for the insurance companies, too. Cannabis treatments are cheaper, less intrusive, and less risking than virtually any other medicines or surgery.
We know that cannabis can be great for pain, inflammation, and a wide variety of injuries, without the terrible side effects and potential for destructive addition and overdose you get with pharmaceutical prescription pain killer opiates.
New Mexico was the first state to approve medical marijuana for PTSD patients. (Currently only Michigan also allows cannabis for PTSD. Even in Colorado, where it is legal for anyone, vets can still lose their Federal VA benefits for medicating with weed.)
Of course, New Mexico still has a long way to go when it comes to criminal drug laws, but this is an encouraging step but the courts.