Insurance policies on cannabis: Many major life insurance companies in Canada are becoming much more accepting of cannabis. Many of the firms have stopped categorizing pot smokers as regular 'smokers.' This is likely due to the fact that recreational marijuana use will become legal across all of Canada on October 17th.
The director of health and disability policy for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, Joan Weir, told CBC that if users smoke two or fewer blunts per week than they are deemed exempt from the category.
New Insurance Policies on Cannabis
With new cannabis regulations in place, many of the big insurance companies have already begun updating their underwriting protocol on their life insurance policies.
Back in 2016, Sun Life was the first to stop considering marijuana use the same as tobacco.
The Sun Life statement read:
"As part of our commitment to helping you place every acceptable case, we monitor the latest medical and health research. Now that studies are available on the impacts of marijuana use, we have updated our guidelines accordingly. Clients who use marijuana will no longer be charged smoker rates, unless they also use tobacco."
However, cannabis users that smoke daily for pain management will still be put under the 'smokers' category at many insurance companies, and could potentially pay higher premiums for life insurance monthly as a result.
Insurance premiums are usually calculated based on complicated formulas made with a range of different factors. Lifestyle, smoking tobacco, and family health history are big risk signs that insurances take into account when coming up with the premium amount.
Weir told CBC that the new rules are not to suggest that marijuana has suddenly become risk-free; however, limited use on a weekly basis will not be penalized.
"The trouble is we don't know the exact statistics because it hasn't been a long enough period of time to have good public health epidemiological observations recorded," Dr. Harold Kalant, a professor at the University of Toronto's School of Medicine, told CBC.
As time goes on, more and more research will come out about the effects marijuana smoking has on the body.
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