By, Kathleen Ronayne (AP)

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Some California parents would be allowed to give their children medical cannabis on school campuses under a bill passed Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, by the state Assembly and sent to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.

State law has allowed minors to access medical cannabis since the 1990s but prohibits it on school campuses. That means parents have to remove their children from school or meet them off campus to give them a dose.

The bill says the marijuana would have to be in a non-smoking or vaping form, such as in capsules or oils, and it could be given to students only with a physician’s recommendation for medical marijuana. The bill lets school districts opt in to the policy; it does not mandate them to allow it.

The bill  was one of dozens  passed Monday by the Legislature ahead of a Friday deadline to complete its business for the year.

Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill, who carried the bill, said his legislation would aid children and teenagers with severe medical disabilities.

The bill was inspired in part by a South San Francisco teenager in his district who would have up to 50 seizures a day before he got a medical marijuana recommendation, Hill’s office said. In Santa Rosa, California, a court has allowed a 5-year-old girl to take cannabis oil with her to kindergarten to treat her rare form of epilepsy, The Press Democrat reported. The judge’s order is temporary as he weighs a final ruling.

The school district tried to prohibit the child from bringing her medicine to school, which the family argued was a violation of protections for disabled students, according to the newspaper.

In other cannabis-related legislation, the state Senate passed a bill prohibiting alcoholic beverages that include marijuana. Democratic Assemblyman Ken Cooley introduced the bill after bartenders began mixing CBD oil, a cannabis extract, in cocktails. It now goes to the Assembly.