By Jay Syrmopoulos
In
a precedent-setting case, a state judge ruled this month that the
mother of a New Jersey teenager with epilepsy, who is also her legal
medical caregiver, cannot go to her school to administer her daughter’s
cannabis oil.
The oil treatments, which are legal in the state, control the young girl’s seizures and allow her to function normally in school, according to her parents.
In its opinion, the court reasoned that state and federal laws prohibiting drug possession on school grounds takes precedence over the students’ right to use medical cannabis derivatives. This ruling is in spite of the fact that New Jersey has already legalized cannabis for medical use.
This
court setback is the third such defeat for the Barbour family, who have
vowed to continue appealing. According to legal experts, this case is
believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.
Administrative Law Judge, John S. Kennedy ruled in January and again on appeal in August that the Larc School and the Maple Shade school district are stuck in a legal quandary. If allowed to administer the drug, the school nurse would be violating state laws, which ban the use of drugs in school zones and federal law that deems pot possession a crime.
According to a report by NJ.com:
The oil treatments, which are legal in the state, control the young girl’s seizures and allow her to function normally in school, according to her parents.
In its opinion, the court reasoned that state and federal laws prohibiting drug possession on school grounds takes precedence over the students’ right to use medical cannabis derivatives. This ruling is in spite of the fact that New Jersey has already legalized cannabis for medical use.
Administrative Law Judge, John S. Kennedy ruled in January and again on appeal in August that the Larc School and the Maple Shade school district are stuck in a legal quandary. If allowed to administer the drug, the school nurse would be violating state laws, which ban the use of drugs in school zones and federal law that deems pot possession a crime.
According to a report by NJ.com:
Roger and Lora Barbour have sued to require the nurse at their 16-year-old daughter’s special education school in Bellmawr administer cannabis oil, just like the nurse dispenses prescribed medication to other students. Since April, Genny has attended only half-days of school so she can be home for her lunchtime dose of homemade oil, diluted in a small glass of cola.In his 11-page ruling, the judge wrote that the family failed to show that their daughter would suffer “irreparable harm” if she were denied her medicine during the school day.
