Licensed marijuana grower loses insurance after theft

By: Chris Nuttall-Smith, Ottawa Citizen, 02/23/03

'There's no way underwriters will cover a grow operation' insurer

VANCOUVER - Just after dark on a clear night last spring, thieves crept into the small hut where Jim Wakeford kept his marijuana growing operation and made off with three plants that were just days from harvest.

Less than a week later, they returned to Mr. Wakeford's small farm in Roberts Creek, B.C., and burglarized him again, this time of 28 marijuana seedlings and eight expensive lights used for growing. So Mr. Wakeford, who has AIDS and in 1999 became one of the first Canadians to win the right to use marijuana for medical purposes, did what any aggrieved victim of a property crime might do. He called the RCMP. Then he filed a claim with his insurance company.

But as Mr. Wakeford's case - Canada's first insurance claim for stolen marijuana - would show, the country's insurance industry wants absolutely nothing to do with either medical marijuana or the 900 people now allowed by Health Canada to use it and grow it. According to Dennis Prouse, an official with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, insurance underwriters will not provide even basic homeowner's or tenant's insurance to people who they know grow marijuana, even if legally allowed to do so.

And some medical marijuana users fear their insurance companies will soon force them to choose between the drug that helps them through their illnesses, or protection for their homes and belongings. "There's just no way on God's green earth that the underwriters are going to cover a place where you know there's a grow operation," said Mr. Prouse. "The fire hazard, the break-in hazard... you can say the Ministry of Health says it's legal, but God bless you. There's no way." "This might be one of those situations where the feds themselves are going to have to underwrite it," he added.

But Jirna Vlk, a spokeswoman for Health Canada, said the ministry does not get involved in insurance issues. "How they protect the plants is their responsibility," Ms. Vlk said.

Mr. Wakeford first moved to Roberts Creek after winning the right to use marijuana. Roberts Creek, a seaside forest community near where "The Beachcomers" is famed for the quality and quantity of marijuana its residents produce.

In August 2001, Mr. Wakeford moved to the communal farm there and with the help of some experienced growers, he established his legal crop. He sought tenant's insurance as soon as he moved in, Mr. Wakeford said, but as the farm was commune, he didn't have much luck.

On May 2 2002, with the help of a friend, Mr. Wakeford secured a renter's policy with $50,000 coverage. Two weeks later, he was robbed the first time. Then again, Mr. Wakeford filed insurance claims for each of the two burglaries. All told, his claims totaled $10,800.

On May 28, Mr. Wakeford swore out a statement of claim. That same day, the company cancelled his insurance, without providing reasons. The company, Westland Insurance, did not return calls for this story.

Since the burglary, Mr. Wakeford has moved from the farm to a condominium. He was able to get a tenant's insurance for his condominium from a national insurance company. When he applied for the coverage, he said, he did not disclose that he is a medical marijuana user. He said he doesn't grow marijuana at his new home, but gets it from sympathetic "suppliers."

CanWest News Service