A school district board in El Paso County approved Thursday a policy to allow therapeutic marijuana products at its schools.
The District 49 Board of Education, in Peyton, unanimously, in a five-to-zero vote, approved the “Compassionate Administration of Therapeutic Cannabinoid Products on District Property” policy, the district announced in a media release.
The policy, known as “Jaxs’ policy,” was approved as part of a regularly scheduled monthly meeting and is the first of its kind in the state, according to the district.
“Sand Creek High School 11th-grader Jackson ‘Jaxs’ Stormes, 16, was suspended in May 2015 for carrying cannabis oil to school as a seizure treatment,” the district said. “Jaxs suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form form of intractable epilepsy, as well as Juvenile Parkinson’s Disease.”
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Stormes has undergone two brain surgeries and more than 60 drug combinations in efforts to relieve his seizures.
“In 2012, we pretty much ran out of options,” said his mother, Jennie Stormes, in the release. “We started cannabis, and almost immediately he did better. His seizures were in better control. He was just starting to thrive and do so much better.”
District 49 is made up of more than 20 schools in Colorado Springs and Peyton, including three high schools. It also operates one school in Pueblo.
“This process began firmly rooted in the cultural values of respect and care for one of our students,” said Marie LaVere-Wright, District 49 Board of Education president on Facebook. “His struggle to balance his medical need for cannabinoid oil with attending school represented a struggle faced by approximately 40 other students in our district.”
Earlier this month, the state legislature approved a bill allowing the use of medical marijuana in schools.
The bill says schools, with district approval, can permit non-smokeable marijuana medicines and the drug is administered by a caregiver or parent.
Stormes and other students in the district will now be able to receive cannabis treatments during the school day.
“This policy is not about District 49 deciding what is an acceptable medical treatment,” said LaVere-Wright. “Jaxs’ policy is about respecting the decision of a child’s parent and physician.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or @kierannicholson
