By Madeline Coats
WNPA Olympia News Bureau
OLYMPIA — A bill proposed by state Rep. Brian Blake of Aberdeen would allow marijuana on school campuses for students who require aid for medical conditions.
The state Legislature convenes today.
House Bill 1060 aims to permit students to consume medical marijuana on school property, aboard buses and while attending school-sponsored events.
Students would have to meet the demands of state law RCW 69.51A.220, which requires that health care professionals must authorize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Minors would receive treatment with the approval of their guardians.
State’s guidelines
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According to the Legislator’s Guide to Washington’s Marijuana Laws, a qualifying medical condition is “severe enough to significantly interfere with the patient’s activities of daily living and ability to function.”
Disabilities, illnesses
Common disabilities or illnesses are cancer, epilepsy, anorexia, post-traumatic stress disorder and intractable pain.
Blake, a Democrat representing Legislative District 19, filed HB 1060 at the request of a constituent whose daughter couldn’t receive treatment at school. He said that the parent said that medical marijuana therapy was helping her function but that she had to leave campus to use cannabis.
Adults in control
Under the proposed bill, the parent or guardian of a minor would have to be the youth’s designated provider and have control over the minor’s medical marijuana. As a result, the guardians would have to physically go to school to provide the substance to the child.
Qualifications
To qualify, both the minor and the designated provider would have to be entered in the medical marijuana authorization database and hold a recognition card for identification.
“Not the entire medical community supports CBD oil,” Blake said.
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This story is part of a series of news reports from the Washington State Legislature provided through a reporting internship sponsored by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation.