Where marijuana is the doctor's orders, will insurers pay?

New York

EARLY this year, a disabled former vehicle body worker named Greg Vialpando explained to lawmakers in New Mexico how medical marijuana helped his chronic back pain.

State legislators were considering a bill backed by workers' compensation insurers that would have exempted them from paying for medical marijuana. But Mr Vialpando and another patient described how smoking the drug let them escape years of stupor caused by powerful prescription narcotic drugs known as opioids.

The lawmakers ended up dropping the bill, and Mr Vialpando's expenses for buying marijuana are covered by insurance.

"I would recommend that …