“Federal and state law require the district to assist a student with a disability with taking medication if such medication is necessary so that the student can attend school,”
Brooke Adams, 5, has suffered from seizures her whole life. On Monday, she attended her first day of kindergarten — after a judge issued a ruling that she could be given medical cannabis while at public school.
Brooke has Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy that causes frequent seizures. She’s treated with daily doses of CBD tincture and a “rescue drug made of cannabis oil that’s high in THC,” according to KQED. A rescue drug can help stop seizures once they start.
The drug has to be with Brooke at all times as a higher dose is administered should a seizure occur.
Brooke’s local school district would not let her bring her medicine on campus because possession of marijuana, regardless if it’s medical or recreational, is prohibited within 1,000 feet of public schools, according to both California’s Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana in the state, and federal law, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Now, the California Office of Administrative Hearings’ Special Education Division has granted a temporary order that will allow Adams to attend school with her medication until the final ruling is made in November. The order both permits Adams to bring her medical marijuana to school and requires that a nurse be available to administer the medication to the young girl as necessary.
With the recent FDA approval of a cannabis-based drug to help prevent seizures, it seems likely that many more schools will be challenged for discriminatory practices that prevent students like Adams from attending school. And if her family wins her case, they could set a precedent for allowing medical marijuana in schools across the country.
Source –The press democrat
Image – Jana Adams