ABERDEEN — An Aberdeen schoolgirl plagued by a seizure disorder that’s proven untreatable by mainstream medication is one step closer to finding relief today with the State House of Representative’s Health Care and Wellness Committee’s 13-3 approval of a bill that would allow parents and guardians to administer medical marijuana to qualified students on school property.
According to the bill summary, House Bill 1060 – also known as Ducky’s Bill – would require school districts to allow students to consume marijuana for medical purposes on school grounds, aboard a school bus, or while attending a school sponsored event. School districts would be required to adopt policies to allow that practice. That policy would have a long list of requirements of its own, ranging from which students would qualify to the establishment of legal protections for anyone involved with providing that student medicinal marijuana.
“Ducky” is the nickname for River Barclay, an elementary school student who is only able to attend half-days of class because her seizures are “intractable,” meaning not controllable by any of the anti-seizure drugs available today, according to her dad, John Barclay. The only thing that has proven to give her relief from these seizures is marijuana, said Barclay. The bill, if passed, would allow him or another guardian to administer the medication to his daughter on school property.
“With four out of the five seizure medications she tried she presented with even worse seizures,” said Barclay. “The one that didn’t do that to her didn’t help at all.”