Pubdate: Tue, 12 Apr 2016
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2016 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold

PANEL OKS MEDICAL POT IN STATE'S SCHOOLS

Schools in Colorado would be required to allow parents to provide 
medical marijuana treatment to their children on school grounds under 
a bill that won approval in a state legislative committee Monday.

House Bill 1373 gives school districts the authority to write 
policies limiting where on campus the treatment could take place or 
what forms of cannabis can be administered. If the district fails to 
create a policy, parents or private caregivers would have no 
limitations on where they could administer the treatment, said state 
Rep. Jonathan Singer, a Longmont Democrat who is the bill's sponsor.

The bill passed 10-3 in the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural 
Resources Committee.

"It forces a conversation," Singer said of his bill's mandate, "that 
we were hoping would be a voluntary conversation."

Last year, lawmakers passed a bill allowing schools to create 
policies permitting student use of medical marijuana. The bill was 
championed by parents of severely disabled children who treat their 
conditions with cannabis - both in non-psychoactive preparations and 
in forms containing THC.

But none of Colorado's 178 school districts have yet created such a 
policy, although one is considering it. School districts said they 
worry about losing federal funding and oppose the current bill's mandate.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom