Where there’s smoke, there’s a benefits claim.

Turns out that’s the case with a new Ontario Public Sector Employees Union policy that will see its members covered for medical marijuana.

The new policy, announced Friday by OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas, will see union employees who have a doctor’s prescription reimbursed for a valid medical marijuana prescription.

“There are benefits to medical cannabis,” Thomas said. “We’ve been working with the (insurance) carrier that we have, SSQ, and it took a bit...so for certain illnesses it’s a hell of a lot better than every day drugs.”

Thomas said it’s the union’s way of leading by example as OPSEU will start to ask employers to cover medical marijuana for their workers. It’s taken time for the insurance industry to get “its head around” covering prescription weed, but it can be done, he stressed.

“I’m hoping we can get more employers interested in it,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Thomas has made headlines in relation to weed. Last summer, he called on the Ontario government to sell marijuana at the LCBO when the federal government legalizes it for recreational use.

At the time, he said the LCBO, where OPSEU represents workers, was best suited to provide a socially responsible approach to selling recreational pot.

sjeffords@postmedia.com