CHICAGO—The parents of an 11-year girl with leukemia have sued the state of Illinois and a suburban Chicago school district over a state law that prohibits her from using medical marijuana at school.
Illinois passed a medical marijuana law in 2014, but the statute prohibits the consumption or possession of cannabis on public school property. The family argues in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court that the state’s medical marijuana law denies the child due process and violates the federally-mandated Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The girl, identified in the lawsuit as A.S., attends public school in Schaumburg, Ill. School District 54. She was treated for her leukemia with chemotherapy. Those treatments resulted in the child suffering from seizures and epilepsy, the lawsuit said.
Four years of traditional treatments and medicine failed to completely regulate her seizures and the side effects hampered her ability to learn, according to the lawsuit.
“The parents have told me that the difference between their daughter (before using medical marijuana) and now is like night and day,” the family’s attorney Steven Glink told USA TODAY. “Her ability, her behavior in general, her whole character, her wellness is completely different. She can viably attend school.”
Andrew DuRoss, the Schaumburg School District superintendent, said district officials asked Illinois State Board of Education officials to clarify the state’s medical marijuana law after the family had told school officials that A.S. had been prescribed medical marijuana and requested that school officials administer the medical marijuana as needed.
State school officials made clear that possession or consumption of medical marijuana would violate Illinois law, DuRoss said.
“We do also share the same concerns and care about (A.S.) and her family in this situation,” he said. “But we cannot legally grant the request that was made due to the rules of the Illinois medical cannabis act.”
A spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan declined to comment on the lawsuit.
DuRoss noted that the district nurses and teachers work with many students who have special medical needs that require administering drugs. He declined to comment on whether he’d like to see Illinois change its law to accommodate the use of medical marijuana for students.
Glink said that the Illinois case is somewhat analogous to a situation in Colorado, where a public school student successfully lobbied the state legislature to amend Colorado’s medical marijuana law to permit its use in states school.
Jack Splitt, who used medical marijuana to help alleviate the pain associated with cerebral palsy, and his mother pressed Colorado lawmakers to change state regulations after a school employee ripped a skin patch that was delivering cannabis-derived medication off his arm in February 2015.
The Colorado rule—known as Jack’s Law— gives the state’s school districts authority to write policies for where on campus the treatments can take place and what forms of cannabis can be administered.
credit:usatoday.com
