Hickenlooper On Allowing Medical Marijuana In Schools: 'Common Sense Would Prevail'
DENVER (CBS4) - A new law signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday requires medical marijuana caregivers to register with the state, and get a license if they sell more than 99 plants. But an amendment to the new law is the real story.
The amendment makes Colorado the first state in the country to allow medical marijuana in schools. Nearly 500 students in Colorado take cannabis for debilitating conditions. The amendment is named after one of those students whose mother led the fight for it.
As Hickenlooper signed Jack's Amendment into law, Jack Splitt's smile said all he couldn't say. Splitt has cerebral palsy and just wants to go to school like any other kid.
"When you see Jack you wish that just common sense would prevail, and people say, 'Why would this ever happen?' " Hickenlooper said.
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Three months ago Splitt's school confiscated the medicine that treats his debilitating muscle spasms saying cannabis is a controlled substance and schools are drug free zones.
"The only reason that he can go to school and enjoy school is because of this medicine," Splitt's mother Stacey Linn said.
Enter Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont.
"We don't do it for Ritalin, we don't do it for asthma," Singer said.
He heard Splitt's story and amended a bill he was carrying to allow caregivers to administer cannabis at school.
"It's not just for Jack, this is for all the kids," Linn said.
Kids like Jaxon Stormes of Colorado Springs who takes medical marijuana for severe seizures. He was suspended from school Friday when his mother accidentally packed it in his lunch.
"I was like, 'You're kidding me?' I'm like, 'He didn't do anything. Jack does not have the ability to form that intent,' " Jaxson's mother Jeannie Stormes said.
"Without moms stepping up for their kids we wouldn't be here today to make sure that kids and parents don't have to choose between medicine or school, and they can do both now," Singer said.
The law does not mean kids will be smoking pot at school. Those impacted receive medical marijuana through injections, patches or pills. They will need a doctor's note and a caregiver or parent will be required to administer it.
