Can I Get Disability if I Use Marijuana

Can I Get Disability if I Use Marijuana? The answer to this is: it depends.

Since marijuana has become legal in Ohio there appears to be a lot of confusion among disability claimants about how this may impact their case. Many believe that since it is legal, they have a right to do it, and therefore the government should not use this against them. However, this is not necessarily the case. Cigarettes are legal. But, if you are claiming that you have a disability due to asthma, Social Security can use this against you. Alcohol is legal. But, if you are claiming that your liver disease makes you disabled, the government can use this against you. Likewise, if your doctors believe that marijuana use is contributing to why you cannot work, it is unlikely that you will be able to get disability. Of course, this largely depends on the amount of use and your medical conditions. If your disability is due to back pain, likely there will be no impact on your case. However, heavy marijuana use can sometimes be associated with paranoia or lack of motivation. If you are claiming mental health disabilities due to paranoia and lack of motivation, Social Security would be within its rights to use heavy marijuana use against you. This is especially true if your psychiatrist or therapist has been suggesting that you cut back or stop your usage. Another common symptom involves regular nausea or vomiting. While marijuana can sometimes help these symptoms for some conditions, there are other times where your doctors may be suggesting that it causes or exacerbates these symptoms. Per the Cleveland Clinic, “cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) can affect people who use cannabis (marijuana) long-term. CHS causes frequent, severe nausea and vomiting. Hot baths and showers may temporarily relieve symptoms. But the only way to cure CHS is to stop using cannabis.” https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21665-cannabis-hyperemesis-syndrome.

The bottom line is, you should listen to your healthcare professionals- especially when you are trying to get disability. If you regularly use marijuana against your medical provider’s advice, there is a decent chance that Social Security will deny your claim. Please see the below regulation that is applicable to Social Security’s evaluation as to how marijuana use is considered.

Social Security regulations state:

§ 416.935. How we will determine whether your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability.

(a) General. If we find that you are disabled and have medical evidence of your drug addiction or alcoholism, we must determine whether your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability, unless we find that you are eligible for benefits because of your age or blindness.(b) Process we will follow when we have medical evidence of your drug addiction or alcoholism. (1) The key factor we will examine in determining whether drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability is whether we would still find you disabled if you stopped using drugs or alcohol.(2) In making this determination, we will evaluate which of your current physical and mental limitations, upon which we based our current disability determination, would remain if you stopped using drugs or alcohol and then determine whether any or all of your remaining limitations would be disabling.(i) If we determine that your remaining limitations would not be disabling, we will find that your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability.(ii) If we determine that your remaining limitations are disabling, you are disabled independent of your drug addiction or alcoholism and we will find that your drug addiction or alcoholism is not a contributing factor material to the determination of disability.

https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/416/416-0935.htm 

Given the foregoing, the best advice would be to stop marijuana use if it is even arguable that it is contributing to your disabling health problems. The easiest way to prove that marijuana is not a contributing factor is to cease use and show that the problems still remain.

If you are looking for assistance in a disability case, please give our office a call or contact us online. All of our attorneys have over a decade of experience in helping the disabled receive Social Security benefits. We offer free phone consultations and if you hire us, we will only charge a fee if you receive benefits.