CA State Senator Hill On Governor Brown's VETO Of Jojo’s Act

Article Source: CA State Senator Jerry Hill

Senator Jerry Hill Issues Statement on Governor’s Veto of Jojo’s Act

Senate Bill 1127 Would Have Let School Districts Decide Whether to Allow Students Who Rely on Medical Cannabis to Take Their Medicine at School Under Strict Conditions

SAN MATEO – State Senator Jerry Hill issued the following statement on the veto of his Senate Bill 1127, called Jojo’s Act, which would have enabled students who rely medical cannabis to have an easier time getting the doses they need at school.

“It is vital that we lift the barriers for students with serious medical conditions who rely on medical cannabis to attend school,” said Senator Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. “Making it easier for these children and teens to get the medicine they need without disrupting their school day remains important to me. I plan on reintroducing this bill when the Legislature reconvenes on December 3.”

SB 1127 would have enabled K-12 school districts and county boards of education to choose whether to allow a student’s parent or guardian to administer medical cannabis to the child on campus under strict conditions, including requirements that:

• The student is a qualified medical cannabis patient with a doctor’s recommendation.
• The student’s parent or guardian give the school a copy of the child’s medical cannabis recommendation to keep on file.
• The student’s medical cannabis is in a nonsmokable and nonvapable form. (Typically, medical cannabis is administered as oil, capsules, tinctures, liquids or topical creams.)
• The medical cannabis is not stored on campus. It would be brought to school by the parent or guardian, then taken away after the student receives the necessary dose.
• The parent or guardian sign in when coming on campus to administer the medical cannabis to the student and not disrupt the educational environment.

The legislation did not create a mandate. It would have allowed school districts and counties opting into the arrangement to opt out for any reason, including concerns about losing federal funding as a result of the policy. None of the seven states that allow medical marijuana use by students on campus have lost federal funding.

Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, Washington, Delaware, Florida and Illinois allow students to take medical cannabis on campus providing that they, their parents, guardian or caregiver, and schools abide by various restrictions in addition to following their state’s laws for medical marijuana use by minors.

Jojo’s Act was named for a South San Francisco High School student living with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, who takes medical cannabis to forestall debilitating seizures that had prevented him from attending school and left him barely able to function. Testifying earlier this year in support of the bill, Jojo’s mother told lawmakers that before her son started taking medical cannabis, he would suffer as many as 50 seizures a day. Now, he seldom has a seizure, was able to attend school and graduated in June.

Governor Brown vetoed SB 1127 on Friday.

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Resources

SB 1127 Fact Sheet:
https://sd13.senate.ca.gov/sites/sd13.senate.ca.gov/files/pdf/sb_1127_factsheet.pdf

Governor’s Veto Message:
https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SB-1127-Veto.pdf

States Allowing Medical Marijuana in School, Effective Dates of Laws with Links:

• Colorado: SB 15-014: May 18, 2015 , initial bill, see opt-in (section 9 on page 11); 2016 follow-up legislation to mandate administration of medical cannabis by a caregiver to a student on campus; 2018 follow-up legislation allowing school personnel opt-in to administer medical cannabis to a student.
• Maine: LD 557: October 2015
• New Jersey: AB 4587: November 9, 2015
• Washington: SB 5052: July 1, 2016 (see Section 31, paragraph 4 on page 50)
• Delaware: SB 181: September 7, 2016
• Florida: SB 8-A: June 23, 2017 (see bottom of page 44)
• Illinois: HB 4870: August 1, 2018

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Robert Riechel

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Source Credit: CA State Senator Jerry Hill

Web Site: http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/

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