State Passes Revolutionary Law To Let Elementary Students Have Access To Medical Cannabis In School

 While the United States Federal Government continues to claim that  cannabis is a deadly drug with no medicinal value, the state of Illinois  is setting a new precedent by passing a law that allows all students to  use medical cannabis in school. House Bill 4870  was signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday after it was  passed by the state legislature with overwhelming support in a vote of  99-1. It amends the school code and requires all schools—public, private  and charter—to let parents give their children medical cannabis at  school. 

“Requires a school district, public school, charter  school, or nonpublic school to authorize a parent or guardian of a  student who is a qualifying patient to administer a medical cannabis  infused product to the student on school premises or a school bus if  both the student (as a qualifying patient) and the parent or guardian  (as a designated caregiver) have been issued registry identification  cards under the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program  Act.”

While the bill does states that “a parent or guardian may not  administer a medical cannabis infused product if the administration  would create disruption to the school’s educational environment or would  cause exposure of the product to other students,” it also opens a door by allowing cannabis to be present on school campuses at all. 

The bill was sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Lou Lang after a  local family filed a lawsuit because they wanted to use CBD oil to treat  their daughter’s seizures, which were caused by chemotherapy. “This legislation could help parents from across Illinois  care for their children with severe medical conditions without having  to sue their local school district to do it,” Lang said. 

Despite years of propaganda and demonization sponsored by the federal  government, cannabis has been shown to treat a number of illnesses, and  the research on what the plant is capable of has only just begun. These  studies include evidence that cannabis can stop HIV from becoming AIDS, that the majority of cannabis users give up prescription opiate medications, and that cannabis has a “significant” effect on killing cancer cells. 

While the latest developments in Illinois regarding access to  medicinal cannabis are encouraging, it should be noted that parents  across the country have paid the price over the years because the same medicine that helped their children was banned by the state. 

One family went to court in Trenton, New Jersey, in an attempt to be  allowed to administer CBD oil to their daughter at school, in order to treat her seizures.  Although the product was legal in the state, a judge ruled against the  family, citing federal law and the fact that cannabis is still a  Schedule I drug. This massive change in Illinois, which is being referred to as  “Ashley’s Law” is a result of the tireless work of the Surin family, on  behalf of their 11-year-old daughter. As The Free Thought Project reported in January: 

When she was much younger, Ashley found herself in a  battle for her life as leukemia took over. Thankfully, she won that  battle but not without consequences. As a result of the chemotherapy,  Ashley developed seizures. Luckily for Ashley, however, medical  marijuana helped to drastically decrease those seizures. “We’re amazed with her progress,” Maureen Surin, Ashley’s mother  told NPR. There was a catch, however, in treating Ashley’s seizures with  cannabis—she couldn’t go to school—because it was illegal. Ashley’s  family wasn’t going down without a fight though and this week, in a  landmark ruling, she won that fight.

Now, not only will Ashley have the freedom to treat her seizures with  a natural substance that has been proven effective, but other children  in the state will have the same freedom, and the hope is that this new  precedent in Illinois will spread to other states.