In Illinois on December 17, 2010, a 13 year old child died at a Chicago Public School ("CPS") because there were peanuts in food that her seventh grade teacher ordered from a restaurant for a class holiday party, which was not supposed to have any nuts or nut oil. The child reacted and per CPS rules, the on campus nurse was not allowed to administer an epi pen.
The laws have now changed in Chicago, Illinois as a result giving the schools more control over the health and welfare of their wards, the children.
Does this also include administering medical marijuana? Colorado seems to think so. The number of states legalizing medical marijuana is continuing to grow. But now, the Colorado House has passed a bill that would allow nurses in schools to administer medical marijuana to their students. According to a recent Pew Research poll 6 in 10 Americans support the use of medical marijuana.
Currently, cannabis is banned by federal law as a Schedule I substance. This means the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency assesses it as highly addictive with no medical value. However, "the people" disagree. 28 states have approved a medical marijuana program and eight have legalized recreational use of cannabis products. In fact, Colorado and Illinois lawmakers have introduced more medical marijuana legislation in their respective states to address chronic pain and perhaps lessen opioid prescriptions. Since 2000, medical marijuana has been continuously growing. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 87,493 patients had active medical marijuana registrations as of early 2018. While some lawmakers still may not support the use of marijuana for any reason, marijuana still has a strong support system.
"When people ask me if we are not simply creating a gateway, I tell people this: I don't know if cannabis is addictive, but I do know this: Opioids and heroin kills people, cannabis does not," Senator Dan Harmon of Illinois, a sponsor of the state's medical marijuana expansion bill, told the Chicago Tribune.
When will the Federal government weigh in and make the laws consistent between states i.e. in commerce? Even the disconnect within the Federal government i.e. patents versus trademarks in terms of eligibility, needs to be addressed.
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