Brooke Adams, a kindergarten in Santa Rosa, California, has Dravet syndrome. It is a rare and serious form of epilepsy that manifests itself in life-threatening, unpredictable, frequent attacks that can cause serious harm if not treated quickly. What can help control seizures, if she takes the drug fast enough, it is the cannabis oil. She uses CBD oil as a preventative medicine and THC oil as a medicine for seizures.
The Rincon Valley Union School District previously covered the costs of a private kindergarten and a specialized nurse who was following the child in the bus and accompanying him to class. The nurse was standing by with the rescue medication in case Brooke had a seizure. But when Brooke's parents met with the district in April to develop a kindergarten plan in a public school, the district refused to place Brooke in a school and denied him access to a school bus. According to the court, the reason was that cannabis oil was in public schools, according to court documents.
"Assistant Superintendent Cathy Myhers had said that she would like to have Brooke on campus," District Attorney Jennifer Nix said, but it was unclear whether it was legal.
Instead, Rincon Valley offered one hour of home schooling per day and ongoing nurse services at home rather than at school. Brooke's parents wanted her to go to school. Her experience in kindergarten, interaction with other children and school attendance have helped her grow socially and academically, her family and her health professionals have testified.
The parents took the school district to court.
The school district argued that while Brooke was making social and intellectual progress while attending preschool, federal and state laws prohibited students from having medical cannabis on school grounds. The drug was a lifesaver, according to Brooke's family and her doctor, who testified in court that Brooke can not function without her.
According to his doctor, Dr. Joseph Sullivan, director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at UCSF Benioff University for Children in San Francisco, Brooke's seizures may not have immediate side effects. The cumulative effect of hundreds of crises over time results in stagnant development and intellectual disability, according to Sullivan's testimony. Brooke had 20 seizures a month when she saw him for the first time for treatment.
Dravet's syndrome left Brooke with language and speech delays, behavioral and developmental delays, and movement and balance problems. The disease must be treated daily, but it is "highly resistant to currently available drugs".
In Brooke's case, the family has tried a number of traditional pharmaceuticals on the market, such as Onfi, Depakote and Keppra. According to Sullivan, none seemed to stop the seizures, but the cannabis oil seemed to work. The drug reduced Brooke's number of seizures and her family said her longest period without a seizure had occurred since she was using cannabis-based drugs. "It was stopping all foreclosures, which was a miracle for us," Jana Adams said.
Myhers, the Rincon Valley Assistant Superintendent of Student Services who oversees the district's special education program, testified that a campus would be the best place to achieve Brooke's education and social development goals. She stated that it was feared that if Brooke went to campus with the drug, that "could potentially jeopardize" the district funding, the district being supposed to provide a statement stating that it was safe. is a drug-free campus.
The court determined that the nurse and the child were in full compliance with the provisions of the California Compassion Use Act and the 2003 Medical Marijuana Program Act and interpreted these laws as indicating that qualified patients and their caregivers grounds "if [they] followed the same procedures on a public campus she did in kindergarten. "
"I was really relieved and excited and moved," Jana Adams said. Cannabis, she says, "it's life, saving lives, changing lives".
She said the drug had made a huge difference in the life of the whole family. "I had to stay at home with Brooke for holidays and different things and now we can go with family, you know, it's totally different," Adams said. "I know I'm confident that THC will stop the seizuree … I did not know what would be the result once she would have started a crisis. "
"We are pleased to have clarity and we are happy to serve Brooke," said Jennifer Nix, the lawyer who represented the school district in this case. "We appreciated that the judge responded to each of our concerns."
The California legislature has attempted to eliminate any potential confusion about the state's compassionate use law when schools are involved. This year, the legislature passed Senate Bill 1127, which is awaiting a signing from Governor Jerry Brown and will allow school districts to create policies that allow parents or guardians of qualified students to own and use medical cannabis. at school. Since 2014, Congress has banned the US Department of Justice from spending money to pursue cannabis-related activities if these activities are permitted by national laws on medical marijuana, although the Trump administration said she could change this approach.
Brooke is not the first child to fall in a school district preoccupied with the legality of the drug. In an innovative case in April, an Illinois judge decided to accept Ashley Surin, 11 years old. who has acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, take classes with her cannabis-based drugs. In this case, the Attorney General of Illinois had to agree that there would be no negative legal consequences for staff who would help Surin with his medications. A federal judge was also required to issue an emergency order to allow him to return to school, as the Illinois law does not provide an exception for medical use in schools.
Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, and Washington State allow some students to use marijuana for medical purposes. As medical cannabis becomes increasingly accepted by the American public and medical communities, experts say states will have to fix it.
Joe Rogoway, Adams' lawyer. hopes that this decision can become a kind of legal model for schools. "Many parents will just give up if they are told you can not take the child to school," Rogoway said. He added that his staff was "a bit tearful" when they made the decision.
"I hope that people will not have to fight this and that school districts will do what's right and will allow kids to go to school regardless of drugs." that they take, "said Rogoway.
"I never imagined that I would be the only one fighting for it and having to go through it, but I would do it again," said Jana Adams. Although these cases are usually private, she thought it was important to tell the story of her family. "We decided to make it public so we can help others see the benefits and know that with the decision, I think it will help other school districts to know that there should not be any." 39 excused. "
