Underwriters should consider the benefits of medical marijuana in treating multiple sclerosis (MS), according to Gen Re Research and Development Chief Underwriter Ross Campbell.

“Assessment guidelines for confirmed cases [of MS] typically use the current level of disability, the frequency of attacks and the amount of time following the diagnosis to steer a decision,” he says in a paper on the topic.

“The use of marijuana products in the treatment of people with MS may lead underwriters to consider whether the therapy should play a more prominent role in risk assessment.”

The paper says medical marijuana has proven effective in managing chronic pain, muscular cramps and spasticity in patients with MS.

“For cancer and AIDS patients, marijuana can reduce nausea and vomiting and stimulate appetite and weight gain,” the paper says.

“However, treatment with marijuana is not a cure, but rather a palliative treatment.”

In Victoria the use of medicinal marijuana in exceptional circumstances was approved last week. And the first medical marijuana farm has opened in NSW.

Mr Campbell says underwriters must distinguish between the medical drug and the illicit substance.

“Medical marijuana extracts do not come with the psychoactive effect of the illicit version,” he said.

“A person using marijuana as the plant product to alleviate their symptoms should, however, be treated as a smoker of marijuana or cannabis resin.”

Mr Campbell says while MS sufferers would not normally be accepted for critical illness, income protection or disability cover, if they are using medical marijuana an exclusion clause might be a solution.