U.S. Federal Court Rules 6th Grader Can Treat Her Seizures With Marijuana — In School

A federal court in Illinois has allowed 11-year-old Ashley Surin to use marijuana to treat her seizures during school hours. Ashley, a 6^th grader at Schaumburg School District 54, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 2. Though she overcame the dreaded disease with extensive chemotherapy, Ashley developed seizures.

Last December, the girl started receiving medical marijuana, combined with a low-carb ketogenic diet. It worked like magic. Medical marijuana treatment helped to drastically decrease Ashley's seizures. However, she was required to take her marijuana-based medicines during daytime, including in school.

Although the state of Illinois allows the use of medical marijuana for eligible patients as part of a pilot program slated to run through 2018, cultivation, trafficking, sale, or possession of the plant is still a crime. Even on medical grounds, the law bans students from using marijuana in school or have school nurses administer it.

Ashley was not even required to smoke the marijuana. She simply wears a patch that delivers the marijuana-based medicine to prevent the seizure. But school authorities denied her permission to administer the medicine saying it goes against state laws.

Not pleased with the decision, Ashley’s parents filed a lawsuit in federal court against the school and the state. Legal representatives of the parents argued in court that the state’s ban on taking the drug at school violates the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.

When the facts of the case were presented, the presiding judge John Robert Blakey ruled that Ashley has the right to use the plant to treat her ailment during school hours.

Officials from Illinois Attorney General’s Office and Schaumburg School District 54 said they were ready to iron out the legalities, urging Ashley to return to school with her marijuana medicine.

The ruling is a landmark. Commentators say it will have impact on other students facing similar situation like Ashley. Ashley’s mother, Maureen Surin, expressed her delight on the ruling: “I’m in pinch-me mode. I’m excited. This is not just going to help her, I hope it’s going to help other kids down the road.”

Maureen also shed light on how her daughter had been responding to medical marijuana treatment:

“She can think better, walk better, talk better. Her brain used to be like in a cloud. Now she can think clearer, she’s more alert, she can interact, and she seems like she can now go back to school and learn and not be in a cloud (as) on all those previous medicines.”