Comment on Oklahoma schools unsure impact of medical marijuana law

By Ben Felder Dig Team  bfelder@oklahoman.com As Oklahoma prepares for a medical marijuana program that is still being developed, school leaders across the state have raised questions and concerns over the impact on students and school policy. Officials with the state Department of Education have fielded numerous questions from district leaders related to medical marijuana and the department plans to issue guidance to schools next month. State Question 788, which legalized medical marijuana, was approved by voters last month. The state Department of Education's general counsel is also in the process of researching school policies in other states and said emergency rules on how schools should deal with medical marijuana could be presented to the state board in the coming months. The state Department of Education hosted its first week of EngageOK last week, a traveling education conference, where state officials were also presented with questions from school leaders concerned about the implementation of medical marijuana. "A lot of schools are thinking about this and wondering what will happen," said Susan Hardy Brooks, a spokeswoman with the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration, which has also been fielding questions from school leaders. Oklahomans under the age of 18 can consume medical marijuana with the recommendation of at least two doctors, based on rules approved last week by the State Board of Health. However, those under 18 would still not be allowed to consume smokable or vapable medical marijuana. Brooks said many questions from schools are on how to dispense medical marijuana, noting schools must often follow strict guidance on everything from dispensing over-the-counter medicine to sunscreen. "It will be a huge legal issue for districts," Brooks said. Bret Towne, superintendent of Edmond Public Schools, said his school district has students with prescriptions for cannabis oil, which parents or guardians must come to the school to administer. "There is just a big unknown about how the regulations are going to be in effect for schools and what it looks like for medical marijuana," Towne said. One week after most Oklahoma voters supported the legalization of medical marijuana, the Edmond Public Schools board voted to expand student drug testing, with some members raising concerns about the state question's impact on students. Towne said he worries about increased marijuana use among teenagers, or at the very least an increased acceptance of it. "I am concerned about anything that affects the individual student's health, safety and their ability to learn and to reach their greatest potential," Towne said. Student use may decline Oklahoma is the 30th state to legalize medical marijuana and there is little evidence in other states that it leads to higher drug use or marijuana use among teenagers. In fact, some studies have found that legalization could contribute to a decline in teenage drug use. In Colorado, after years of increased marijuana use by teens age 12 to 17, the rate began to plummet when recreational use was made legal in 2014, according to a report last year by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Some said the decline was because marijuana was now more closely controlled under a legalized and state-sanctioned program. However, in Washington, where recreational marijuana is also legal, teenage marijuana use showed an increase of up to 4 percent, according to data reviewed in a report published by JAMA Pediatrics in 2017. But unlike Colorado and Washington, Oklahoma will limit marijuana to medical use. A 2015 study published in Lancet Psychiatry that looked at more than 400 schools showed no connection in increased teenage marijuana use following passage of state medical marijuana laws. Towne said the Edmond school district drug tests between 600 and 700 students who participate in activities, such as athletics and band.Read more on NewsOK.com