Pubdate: Fri, 13 May 2016
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2016 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Kieran Nicholson

DISTRICT WILL ALLOW MEDICAL POT IN SCHOOL

A school district board in El Paso County approved Thursday a policy 
to allow therapeutic marijuana products at its schools.

The District 49 Board of Education, in Peyton, unanimously, in a 
five-to-zero vote, approved the "Compassionate Administration of 
Therapeutic Cannabinoid Products on District Property" policy, the 
district announced in a media release.

The policy, known as "Jaxs' policy," was approved as part of a 
regularly scheduled monthly meeting and is the first of its kind in 
the state, according to the district.

"Sand Creek High School 11th-grader Jackson 'Jaxs' Stormes, 16, was 
suspended in May 2015 for carrying cannabis oil to school as a 
seizure treatment," the district said. "Jaxs suffers from Dravet 
Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form form of intractable epilepsy, 
as well as Juvenile Parkinson's Disease."

Stormes has undergone two brain surgeries and more than 60 drug 
combinations in efforts to relieve his seizures.

"In 2012, we pretty much ran out of options," said his mother, Jennie 
Stormes, in the release. "We started cannabis, and almost immediately 
he did better. His seizures were in better control. He was just 
starting to thrive and do so much better."

District 49 is made up of more than 20 schools in Colorado Springs 
and Peyton, including three high schools. It also operates one school 
in Pueblo.

"This process began firmly rooted in the cultural values of respect 
and care for one of our students," said Marie LaVere-Wright, District 
49 Board of Education president on Facebook. "His struggle to balance 
his medical need for cannabinoid oil with attending school 
represented a struggle faced by approximately 40 other students in 
our district."

Earlier this month, the state legislature approved a bill allowing 
the use of medical marijuana in schools.

The bill says schools, with district approval, can permit 
non-smokeable marijuana medicines and the drug is administered by a 
caregiver or parent.

Stormes and other students in the district will now be able to 
receive cannabis treatments during the school day.

"This policy is not about District 49 deciding what is an acceptable 
medical treatment," said LaVere-Wright. "Jaxs' policy is about 
respecting the decision of a child's parent and physician."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom