WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Medical marijuana in Washington schools?

Maddie, 4, and River, 7, are Washington girls who suffer medical conditions that produce seizures, which have severely impacted their quality of life. Drugs prescribed by their doctors haven’t cured or even managed the problems, but the parents of both girls have found solutions in medical marijuana.  Maddie and River are two of the more than fifty children in our state who depend on cannabis to treat their illnesses on an everyday basis.

Administering the marijuana is simple, for instance, River’s father adds 25 drops of cannabis oil into a cookie or apple sauce, she eats it and the seizures are mostly under control.  It is important that River receive this treatment every day, sometimes  more than once a day. Since her school prohibits marijuana on school grounds, River has to go home every afternoon to eat that cookie.  Sometimes she doesn’t make it back to school because it’s too disruptive, so she’s missing out on learning and playing time, which is what first-graders should be doing every day.

Rep. Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen) thinks there’s got to be a better way for River and Maddie to be seizure free and not miss school in the process. His bill, HB 1060, would solve the problem. Watch the story Q13 did on the issue this week: