Around the country the debate of marijuana in schools has been stirring up, with more and more states approving it

Around the early days of September, D.C. Public Schools announced its policy on medical marijuana was that health professionals would administer medical marijuana to students in schools. The only form of treatment for severe seizures has been medical marijuana and CBD oil, which DC has banned for the longest time. But on September 10, DC had this to say, “Medical marijuana, of course, is already legal in the District, and it would seem logical to allow consumption of this medicine, especially when needed immediately, where the student frequently is — at school.”

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, California approved a bill last month that would allow medicinal marijuana to be in schools. While that is progress, the United States still has a long way to go.Thirty-three states have medical marijuana programs, but only nine—Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington—allow the medication to be used at K-12 schools, with each of them having specific regulations. 

Virginia, for example, prevents schools from suspending or expelling a student for using medical marijuana with valid permission, but only allows the drug to be administered by the school nurse. New Mexico allows parents and legal guardians, as well as school nurses (under the umbrella of “authorized adults”), to administer the drug, and also allows medical marijuana usage on school buses. 

The idea of all schools allowing medical marijuana has been thought of by students. Sophomore Elias Safi said, “I believe that cannabis should be allowed for people who are undergoing a lot of stress, teenagers who have Parkinson’s disease, or any other student that might need it.”, while Senior Jorge Martinez believed, “If it can help the student, if something happened to the student, and the medicine helped him, then that’s good.” Other students have had differing opinions, such as Senior Lee Le, “I think all medicines have the potential for abuse, but if they follow protocols for medication (such as cough syrup), there shouldn’t be a problem.” Some people don’t really have an opinion, like Junior Savannah Jones, “I mean if there’s a reason for it, it’s fine, I guess.”

Given the events that happened this month, it’s becoming more and more likely that medical marijuana in schools will become a reality in the future.