Distributing medical marijuana carries risk just like any other medicinal liability does - and there’s insurance for that.
Licensed producers sell marijuana for medicinal purposes in many forms - whether it is bud for smoking, edibles of all kinds, or oil for vaporizing, all through mail-order or dispensaries.
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The B.C. brokerage, AC&D Insurance, covers a whole host of medical marijuana operations, including product liability and product recall. Its vice president, Brody Stonehouse advised brokers approach product liability for medical cannabis the same way they do pharmaceutical liabilities.
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“Every broker who’s dealt with any product that’s manufactured or any pharmaceutical, all they have to do is treat marijuana in the same way,” Stonehouse said.
“The product liability is smaller in cannabis than it is for many drugs that are prescribed because it has 1,000s of years of evidence backing it up.”
The liability for edibles could make its way to court, Stonehouse said, but that doesn’t mean marijuana insurers will end up paying out settlements.
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“(Product liability) plays a central role right now,” he said. “As long as you have testing done, you’ll see claims where you have to prove the product did something. You’ll see a lot of litigation but not necessarily successful litigation - clients are probably going to have sign waivers with the insured, waivers are an important part of product liability.”
On top of product liability there is separate coverage for crops and recalls - though the price is somewhat inflated, Stonehouse explained.
“The cost is still a little bit higher than it should be, probably. Insurers are just taking what they can get right now,” Stonehouse said.
“There’s less availability, plus they don’t know much about it yet. What kind of claims are going to come out of it? I haven’t seen anything that looks significant.”
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