Families seek statewide access to cannabis meds at schools

Families pleaded with state lawmakers on Wednesday to pass a bill to expand cannabis-based medicine at school.

Under the current law, school districts must permit parents and guardians to possess and administer cannabis-based medicine on school grounds. A bill in the legislature would remove the discretion from principals and instead require school boards to implement policies that allow for possession and administration of cannabisbased medicine by school personnel.

The bill also would protect school personnel from retaliation.

Many parents grew emotional at a Senate Education Committee hearing as they explained the difficulties their children face trying to take their medicinal cannabis doses while in school. Some parents told the committee they have to leave work to deliver medicine to their children.

Other families have had students continue learning remotely because it’s easier to access their medicine at home.

Parents such as Mark Porter shared how they uprooted their families from other states to move to Colorado to get cannabis-based treatments for their children with complicated medical issues. For his daughter Sarah, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, the Porters said they have seen great progress with cannabis-based medicine.

But Douglas County, where Sarah attends high school, has chosen to not update its policy despite the family’s pleas, Porter said. For that reason, Sarah has had to continue learning remotely.

“Do we just discretely send it with them and hope they do not get caught?” Porter said. “We shouldn’t have to. There’s nothing my child is doing that is wrong.”

The debate surrounding policy for cannabis-based medicines in school has gone on for several years in Colorado. In 2016, “Jack’s Law” gave Colorado school districts the ability to write policies for where students can take their medicine and what forms of cannabis can be administered.

Then in 2018, “Quintin’s Amendment,” named after Quinton Lovato, a 9-yearold boy with epilepsy, allowed for school officials to administer medical marijuana to students.

Lovato begged lawmakers to protect the needs of students such as her son with other complex medical conditions in school districts that have not adopted the policy.