Parents And A Lawmaker Aim For Medical Marijuana To Be Allowed At California School, Despite Federal Law
Each day, Karina Garcia has to take her son Jojo, a 19-year-old with severe epilepsy, off school grounds to squirt a dose of cannabis oil into his mouth, then return him to school for his special education classes. In other news: several counties file a legal challenge to the state's mobile needle-exchange service. And a poll surveys Americans' knowledge of overdose antidote medications.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Medical Pot On School Grounds: Parents, Bay Area Legislator Making The Push
[Karina] Garcia is among a growing number of parents who are using medical marijuana to treat their sick children, often after pharmaceutical remedies have failed. In recognition of this, California is considering a law that would allow parents to administer the drug at school, a move that could set up a showdown with the federal government, whose laws make it a crime to possess, buy or sell marijuana. (Young, 8/21)
Los Angeles Times:
O.C., Costa Mesa And Others Seek Court Order To Prevent Needle-Exchange Program
Citing public health and safety concerns, attorneys representing Orange County, the county Flood Control District and the cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Orange filed a court motion Tuesday seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent a state-approved mobile needle-exchange service. An injunction is necessary, the motion asserts, because the proposed Orange County Needle Exchange Program would “lead to tens of thousands of dirty needles throughout the county, creating a significant public nuisance with serious risk of injury to the county’s residents and water quality.” (Money, 8/21)
NPR:
Poll: Most Americans Know About Opioid Antidote And Are Willing To Use It
After the surgeon general called for more people to be prepared with naloxone, we decided to ask Americans about their knowledge about the opioid antidote's availability, attitudes toward using it and experience with the medicine in the latest NPR-IBM Watson Health Health Poll. The survey queried more than 3,000 households nationwide in May. We wondered how many people know about naloxone and the fact that someone doesn't have to be a medical professional to administer it. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they were aware of the antidote and that it could be given by laypeople; 41 percent said they weren't. (Hensley, 8/21)