Illinois Legislature Votes To Allow Medical Cannabis At School

By Benjie Cooper

IG: @nuglifenews

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With a 50 to 2 vote on Thursday, the Illinois Senate passed HB4870, a bill to “authorize a parent or guardian of a student who is a qualifying patient to administer a medical cannabis infused product to the student on school premises or a school bus.”

“Children shouldn’t have to choose between their medication and their education,” Senator Christina Castro [D] told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We have to make sure that state law is up to date. Qualified patients have the right to have access to their medicine no matter where they are.”

Also known as “Ashley’s Law,” HB4870 was introduced by Representative Lou Lang [D] after 12-year-old Ashley Surin’s parents filed a successful lawsuit in January that allowed them to administer CBD oil to the girl at her school. At an early age, Ashley sustained brain damage from the chemo drug methotrexate and suffered from seizures as a result, which the Surins use CBD oils and foot patches to treat.

Ashley experienced drastic improvements that even her teachers noticed after her parents switched her medicine from a long list of side-effect-laden medications to CBD. Ashley’s parents report that since starting a regimen of cannabis, Vitamin D, and a thyroid medication, most of her symptoms have subsided and she hasn’t experienced a seizure in five months.

The measure already passed the House on Wednesday, April 18 with a 99 to 1 vote and is now headed to Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk for his signature. If made into law, it will apply to all children with a medical cannabis card across the state of Illinois.