California schools could soon allow certain students to use medical marijuana on campus. On Monday, state legislators passed a bill that would make it legal for parents to visit school grounds and administer cannabis medication to their children.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Golden State students suffering from epilepsy and other debilitating ailments are currently required to leave school grounds to use marijuana, even if that life-altering medication is in the form of a nondescript liquid or pill.
California has allowed the use of medical marijuana for qualified minors since Proposition 215 passed in 1996, but for the past two decades, that state-sanctioned medication has been entirely barred from schools.
If signed into law by Governor Brown, the legislation would give parents the power to administer non-smoke or vapable cannabis to their children, bringing the Golden State in line with a number of other states that have already passed MMJ laws catered to children with severe illnesses. Illinois passed a similar law earlier this month, while state officials in Colorado created a law to allow both parents and school nurses to administer medical marijuana on school grounds.
The California bill was inspired in part by a San Francisco teenager who struggled with more than 50 seizure a day. Since epileptic students are often unable to sit through a full day without complications, effective marijuana treatment on campus could be the deciding factor between them attending class and staying home.
The medical cannabis legislation was just one of dozens of initiatives voted on by the California Assembly this week. In addition to supporting MMJ use in schools, Golden State lawmakers advanced a bill to ban the mixing of alcohol with cannabis products, responding to the popularity of CBD cocktails in California bars and restaurants. As of today, it is not yet clear which of Monday’s bills Gov. Brown will sign into law.
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