Robert Celt
New Member
News5 first introduced you to Jennie Stormes last May. She's the mother of a severely disabled District 49 student that was suspended when she accidentally sent his cannabis medication to school in a lunchbox.
Since then, an amendment to the Colorado Caregiver bill called Jack's Law was signed by Governor Hickenlooper. It allows school districts to create their own policies regarding medical marijuana in schools.
Jennie Stormes' 16-year-old son, Jackson, suffers from Dravet Syndrome. Cannabis is the only thing that can bring him relief from severe seizures. "This is my son's medicine," she said. "It's saving his life. I have to do something. I'm not going to not give him his medicine because we're on school grounds."
When Jackson was suspended last school year, the district said their policy is based on Colorado law and is always applied equally and consistently. They also offered to work with the Stormes family and asked Jennie for her input, at the time intending to form a medical marijuana policy once Jack's Law passed.
"We are absolutely nowhere," Stormes said when asked about progress on forming a policy. "After the summer, I asked the same question."
Jack's Law allows school districts to individually form a medical marijuana policy that would permit a caregiver, not a school nurse, to come to campus and administer the cannabis medication.
"Where is the committee?" Stormes asked. "Where is this plan? Where is the policy? What are we going to do? This is the law."
News5 took her questions to the Colorado Association of School Boards and District 49. In a statement, the CASB told us, "Federal law still regulates and regards marijuana as a controlled substance. As a result, a local school board may jeopardize the district's receipt of federal funds if the board adopts a policy permitting the administration of marijuana at school."
District 49 also declined an interview but said in a statement, "We support our parents in caring for their children, but recognize this is a challenging issue." The statement went on to point out that the district receives more than $7 million dollars of federal funding that they simply cannot afford to lose.
"I think fear is driving this lack of desire to follow any policy, create any policy or allow this to happen," Stormes said.
According to the pro-reform marijuana policy project, only three of 23 states where medical marijuana is legal have seen schools or state lawmakers set up rules. In January, a school district in Maine approved a policy allowing caregivers to administer medical marijuana in school. New Jersey became the first state to allow medical marijuana in schools in November.
Here in Colorado, Jennie had no choice to but to break the law when Jackson had a grand mal seizure in school.
"I did take the cannabis on campus and give it to him," she said. "I risked going to jail and him being suspended again, but he was having a medical emergency. It's not like I can pick up a 100 pound kid, take him across the street, administer it and bring him back."
Even though Jackson's health is improving on cannabis, he hasn't gone to school much this year. "You can deny a child their education if they need their medicine," Stormes said. "You can deny the child their medication if they need an education. Why do you have to choose?"
Meanwhile, District 49 is also standing with families like Jackson's to change federal law. A D49 delegate to the Colorado Association of School Boards successfully lobbied for a resolution to be added to their federal legislative agenda. The resolution urges Congress to amend the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act to allow non-psychoactive cannabis to be given to students on school grounds under medical supervision.
Stormes agrees a change in federal law is necessary. "Then the question becomes who has 20 years to wait?"
No school districts in Colorado have formed medical marijuana policies since Jacks Law passed nine months ago. Schools in Maine and New Jersey that are permitting disabled students to take cannabis medication on campus have not lost their funding from the federal government.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CO: No Action Taken To Allow Medical Marijuana In Schools Since Jack's Law Passed
Author: Kelsey Kennedy
Photo Credit: Adobe stock photo
Website: KOAA5
Since then, an amendment to the Colorado Caregiver bill called Jack's Law was signed by Governor Hickenlooper. It allows school districts to create their own policies regarding medical marijuana in schools.
Jennie Stormes' 16-year-old son, Jackson, suffers from Dravet Syndrome. Cannabis is the only thing that can bring him relief from severe seizures. "This is my son's medicine," she said. "It's saving his life. I have to do something. I'm not going to not give him his medicine because we're on school grounds."
When Jackson was suspended last school year, the district said their policy is based on Colorado law and is always applied equally and consistently. They also offered to work with the Stormes family and asked Jennie for her input, at the time intending to form a medical marijuana policy once Jack's Law passed.
"We are absolutely nowhere," Stormes said when asked about progress on forming a policy. "After the summer, I asked the same question."
Jack's Law allows school districts to individually form a medical marijuana policy that would permit a caregiver, not a school nurse, to come to campus and administer the cannabis medication.
"Where is the committee?" Stormes asked. "Where is this plan? Where is the policy? What are we going to do? This is the law."
News5 took her questions to the Colorado Association of School Boards and District 49. In a statement, the CASB told us, "Federal law still regulates and regards marijuana as a controlled substance. As a result, a local school board may jeopardize the district's receipt of federal funds if the board adopts a policy permitting the administration of marijuana at school."
District 49 also declined an interview but said in a statement, "We support our parents in caring for their children, but recognize this is a challenging issue." The statement went on to point out that the district receives more than $7 million dollars of federal funding that they simply cannot afford to lose.
"I think fear is driving this lack of desire to follow any policy, create any policy or allow this to happen," Stormes said.
According to the pro-reform marijuana policy project, only three of 23 states where medical marijuana is legal have seen schools or state lawmakers set up rules. In January, a school district in Maine approved a policy allowing caregivers to administer medical marijuana in school. New Jersey became the first state to allow medical marijuana in schools in November.
Here in Colorado, Jennie had no choice to but to break the law when Jackson had a grand mal seizure in school.
"I did take the cannabis on campus and give it to him," she said. "I risked going to jail and him being suspended again, but he was having a medical emergency. It's not like I can pick up a 100 pound kid, take him across the street, administer it and bring him back."
Even though Jackson's health is improving on cannabis, he hasn't gone to school much this year. "You can deny a child their education if they need their medicine," Stormes said. "You can deny the child their medication if they need an education. Why do you have to choose?"
Meanwhile, District 49 is also standing with families like Jackson's to change federal law. A D49 delegate to the Colorado Association of School Boards successfully lobbied for a resolution to be added to their federal legislative agenda. The resolution urges Congress to amend the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act to allow non-psychoactive cannabis to be given to students on school grounds under medical supervision.
Stormes agrees a change in federal law is necessary. "Then the question becomes who has 20 years to wait?"
No school districts in Colorado have formed medical marijuana policies since Jacks Law passed nine months ago. Schools in Maine and New Jersey that are permitting disabled students to take cannabis medication on campus have not lost their funding from the federal government.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CO: No Action Taken To Allow Medical Marijuana In Schools Since Jack's Law Passed
Author: Kelsey Kennedy
Photo Credit: Adobe stock photo
Website: KOAA5
