The Canadian Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of two men denied disability benefits for addictive disorders, effectively establishing that addiction is a disability under Canadian law, Northern Life reported April 21.

The high court said that government tribunals handling appeals from citizens seeking disability benefits must follow provincial human-rights codes, which define addiction as a disability.

The decision was a victory for the Sudbury Legal Clinic and two of its patients. Norman Werbeski and Robert Tranchemontagne waited more than two years for disability benefits before being denied coverage; a subsequent appeal also was denied on the grounds that the men were alcoholics and did not suffer any other significant physical disability.

The federal appeals code said that a person who "is dependent on or addicted to alcohol, a drug or some other chemically active substance" is not eligible for benefits. The Supreme Court ruled that the Ontario Human Rights Code overrides that language.