Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law Monday that requires all 177 school districts to adopt a policy that allows medical marijuana on school grounds for students who have a license to use non-smokeable marijuana.
Many families have children with debilitating diseases, but have found that marijuana can often stop the symptoms of those diseases, according to KKTV11 in Colorado Springs.
In 2015, a law was passed to allow medical marijuana in schools, but no districts changed their policy. With this new measure, effective at the start of the school year, schools are required to adopt new policies. Districts can opt out if they prove they have lost federal funding or if an easy-to-find explanation of why they will not allow marijuana is added to the school website. The law also says that the state will replace whatever federal funding might be lost if the districts comply.
School employees are not required to administer the medication. Rather, according to the law, it must be brought to the school, administered, and taken by the child’s primary caregiver.
Stacy Linn, whose child has cerebral palsy and uses medical cannabis, is hopeful about the institution of the new law. “The attitudes are changing and we are so grateful for that because there is no more fear,” Linn told KKTV. “It’s not scary, it’s good. It’s a miracle.” Linn has been involved in the fight to give her child access to medical cannabis during school, along with many other families who have seen positive effects on their children.
Falcon School District 49 became the first school district to adopt a policy concerning medical marijuana last month.
