New Law Would Allow Michigan's Medical Marijuana Pediatric Patients To Use Medicine At School

Michigan Reps. Jimmie Wilson, Jr. (D) and Dylan Wegela (D) re-introduced “Jayden’s Law,” House Bills 5063 and 5064, which protect a student’s ability to access medical marijuana while on school grounds.

"What it does is allow medical marijuana pediatric patients to have their medication in the schools the same way anyone else has their medications stored," Wilson told CBS News Detroit after introducing the bills last week. "The same way, whether it be in a nurse's office or an administration office, they would go up and access their medication the same way anyone else would, and they would go back to class."

Even though Michigan allowed minors to have access to medical cannabis as registered patients nearly 15 years ago, they are still not allowed to use their medicine while at school or school events. Under the current state law, registered pediatric medical marijuana patients need to check out of school and move off school grounds to take THC or CBD-infused medicine. When they return to school, they need to be signed in to be allowed back to class.

This process causes delays and oftentimes students miss classroom instructions or extracurricular activities. In addition to a child feeling stigmatized by their peers, there’s a huge burden placed on their parents or guardians.

"It is an inconvenience for students who take this medicine. Most of those students who have autism or have chronic pain or epilepsy have to take time out of the school day, miss instructional hours and go off campus to take medicine, and then come back," Wegela told the outlet. "This would simply make their day a lot more cohesive."

“As a former classroom educator, I know firsthand the negative impact that missed classroom instruction time can have on a student’s success,” Wegela added. “Jayden’s Law will allow students to access their approved medical marijuana products while helping them maintain classroom and extracurricular success, and allow students and their families to have the same dignity as everyone else.”

Jayden’s Law 

The proposed Jayden’s Law is only applicable to non-smokable medical marijuana, it would allow both public and nonpublic schools to adopt guidelines for administering medical cannabis on school grounds. The requirements include a written treatment plan provided by the child’s caregiver, supervised administration by a designated staff member and annual proof of the students' medical marijuana cards.

The law was named after pediatric patient Jayden Carter and his mother, Amie Carter who advocated for this issue.

“Jayden has experienced so much and learned that medical marijuana worked for him, but still struggled to receive it while attending school,” Wilson said in a statement. “He came to Lansing to ask us to fix it, so we are doing just that — for him and all of Michigan’s medical marijuana pediatric patients.”

The legislation also includes protections for students, parents, teachers, nurses, bus drivers and any other person responsible for administering or supervising. Jayden’s Law was developed based on “Ashely’s Law” in Illinois (HB 4870) which allows pediatric medical marijuana patients to obtain their medicine on school grounds.

A similar push for medical marijuana use in schools is also happening in Massachusetts. Minnesota just made progress on the matter with one school allowing a student with autism to obtain her medicine at school.

Photo: Courtesy of CDC on Unsplash