Marijuana use can complicate a life insurance claim, but it does not automatically justify a denial. Whether an insurer can legally refuse to pay usually turns on two questions. Was marijuana use disclosed honestly when the policy was purchased, and did it actually play a role in the insured’s death.
Insurance companies often treat marijuana differently after death than they do during underwriting. Even when cannabis is legal under state law, insurers sometimes rely on technical policy language to avoid paying benefits. These denials are frequently challenged and often overturned.
How Marijuana Comes Up After a Death
Most marijuana related denials do not start with the death itself. They start with the application. When a claim is filed, insurers go back and scrutinize the original paperwork looking for anything they can characterize as a misstatement.
Applications often ask about drug use in very broad terms. Some lump marijuana together with illegal drugs. Others ask about frequency or recent use. If the insured answered inaccurately or misunderstood the question, the insurer may claim material misrepresentation.
The key issue is not whether marijuana was used. It is whether the answer would have changed the insurer’s decision to issue the policy or the premium charged. Insurers often argue yes, even when the use had nothing to do with the cause of death.
The Misrepresentation Argument Insurers Rely On
To deny a claim based on misrepresentation, the insurer must show more than a mistake. They must show that the information mattered.
In practice, insurers argue misrepresentation when they discover:
• regular marijuana use that was not disclosed
• medical marijuana use that was not clearly explained
• positive toxicology results after death
What they rarely acknowledge is that many people believe marijuana is treated like alcohol when it is legal in their state. Others assume occasional use does not count. Those misunderstandings are common and often reasonable.
Courts do not automatically side with insurers in these disputes. Intent, clarity of the question, and actual materiality all matter.
Drug Exclusions and Marijuana
Some policies include exclusions for deaths caused by illegal drug use. This is where marijuana denials become legally messy.
Insurers sometimes argue that marijuana is illegal under federal law, even if it was legal and prescribed under state law. Whether that argument works depends on the wording of the policy and which law governs the contract.
If the exclusion is vague or does not clearly define marijuana as an illegal drug, the denial may not hold up. Courts often require insurers to show a direct link between drug use and the death, not just the presence of THC in the body.
When Marijuana Is Alleged to Have Caused the Death
The strongest denials arise when insurers claim marijuana contributed to the death. This is common in vehicle accidents, falls, or drownings.
If the insured died while driving and THC was detected, insurers often invoke criminal act or intoxication exclusions. In those cases, they may not need to prove impairment caused the accident. The allegation alone is often used as the basis for denial.
These cases are highly fact specific. Toxicology levels, timing, and expert analysis matter. A positive test does not always mean impairment at the time of death.
Legal Marijuana Does Not Mean Automatic Coverage
Even in states where marijuana is fully legal, insurers do not always treat it as harmless. State legalization helps, but it does not override policy language automatically.
That said, if marijuana use was legal, disclosed, and unrelated to the cause of death, insurers are on much weaker ground. Those are exactly the cases where legal pressure often forces a reversal.
When a Marijuana Based Denial Can Be Challenged
Marijuana related denials are frequently overturned when:
• the application question was vague or unclear
• use was disclosed or partially disclosed
• marijuana had no connection to the cause of death
• the policy language is ambiguous
• the insurer relies on federal illegality without policy support
These are not fringe arguments. They are common issues in contested claims.
Why Legal Review Matters
Insurers know most families will accept a marijuana related denial at face value. They assume beneficiaries will not challenge federal versus state law arguments or dig into policy definitions.
A life insurance attorney can analyze whether the denial is actually supported by the contract and the facts. In many cases, it is not.
We routinely handle claims where insurers denied benefits simply because marijuana appeared in toxicology results, even though it had nothing to do with the death and was legally used.