Yet another idiotic zero tolerance decision

[draco664]

Link

School kid suffers from a rare neurological condition (diaphragmatic and axial myoclonus) and has been in and our of hospital for a year and is finally able to go back to school.

Quoting from the kid's Letter of Medical Necessity

Failure to respond to a host of other medications including Keppra, clonazepam, valium, morphine, benadryl, Xanax, inhaled lidocaine, Dilantin, Tegretol, Depakote, Flexeril, Artane, IVlg and Solumedrol. Previously, (redacted name) was taking benzodiazepines while at school for episodes of breakthrough myoclonus which was sedating and ineffective to control the symptoms. We now have (redacted name) on a medication regimen which actually helps reduce the frequency and duration of his spells, and have found a medication which reliably aborts the attacks (THC) when they occur.

The medication, in lozenge form, works better than a whole pharmacy worth of other drugs, but leaves the kid clear-headed enough to learn.

Problem? THC is the active ingredient in pot. He's not allowed to have his medication on school grounds.

Fine, the kid's parents said. We live near the school, can he walk home to take his medication and return to school afterwards?

Nope.

If the kid was on something like, say, Vicodin, could he take it at school?

Yep.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Zero tolerance is for people with zero intelligence.

[Andara Bledin]

No joke.

^-.-^

[Rageaholic]

This is exactly why medical marajuna should be legal. From what I got, medical marajuna was legal in Colorado, but the school heads were still being bungholes about it.

[Greenday]

This is exactly why medical marajuna should be legal. From what I got, medical marajuna was legal in Colorado, but the school heads were still being bungholes about it.

My main problem is that anyone can get medical weed. It takes almost no effort. Someone I went to high school with moved to California and got his card. He has NO health problems. My friend's dad did the same thing.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't see that as any sort of problem really.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

I don't see that as any sort of problem really.

^-.-^

Which? Forcing kids to go to school? Or making it okay for kids to remain stupid by skipping school all the time, meaning they'll never get jobs or anything since they won't graduate and that leaves them little options in life?

[HYHYBT]

This isn't exactly "medical marijuana" though. If I understand correctly, THC in pill form is legal by prescription anyway...

[Greenday]

This isn't exactly "medical marijuana" though. If I understand correctly, THC in pill form is legal by prescription anyway...

According to my google search, Dronabinol is the prescription drug for THC. I guess it's legal as I can't find anything making it illegal. But then again, it's not weed that's illegal, it's the THC so I'm slightly fuzzy on the issue.

[Jack]

Well, for one example, the Texas Penal Code section on Marijuana Possession illegalizes marijuana, not its THC, and the string 'THC' is not found at all in the penal code.

Synthetic THC is known as dronabinol. It is available as a prescription drug (under Marinol[71]) in several countries including the United States and Germany. In the United States, Marinol is a Schedule III drug, available by prescription, considered to be non-narcotic and to have a low risk of physical or mental dependence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dronabinol

So that is also restricted.

[Greenday]

>.<

Did you just use wikipedia for a source?

And even if it's restricted, it's legal with a script. According to what you posted anyway.

[Boozy]

Here's what I don't understand - how the hell does the school even know what kind of medication he's taking?

The THC is in lozenge (pill) form. He does not get high, and he does not smell like weed.

So how did it happen that any school official found out what was in his medications? And how is it any of their business?

I was on several prescription pills throughout my public school years, from antibiotics to migraine pills to iron supplements, and at no point did the school make me disclose what I was taking. That information is between myself and my doctor.

Something isn't right with this story.

[Andara Bledin]

Which? Forcing kids to go to school? Or making it okay for kids to remain stupid by skipping school all the time, meaning they'll never get jobs or anything since they won't graduate and that leaves them little options in life?

I have no idea where the hell this is coming from.

My comment was a reply to the comment directly above it.

However, I missed an average of 20 days, unexcused (aka, no doctor's note) every single year I attended school. Technically, by their own rules, I should have automatically failed every class based on lack of attendance alone. Not a single one of the 5 schools that I attended for full school year's even sent a note home about it, though.

^-.-^

[patiokitty]

These days schools are getting very sticky on their rules - if the student has to take any of these meds through the course of the school day and gets caught he could get into serious shit. Many public schools require a list of the meds the student is to take through the day so that they are aware that the student isn't just trying to get high or something, and there are even schools that will have the student leave their meds in the office so they can be administered in the presence of a member of staff through the day. It depends on the individual school.

Hell, I couldn't even send my son to school with his OTC Tylenol for his migraines because the school administrators were afraid that he'd give one of those pills to a classmate, and they refused to allow us to keep the bottle of pills in the office for when he needed them because they weren't prescription. I finally just put some into a baggie and told him to stuff them in the bottom of one of his bookbag pockets and to head to the bathroom if he need to take one, making sure nobody saw him.

Back when I was in school it wasn't such a big deal. The teacher knew I was taking meds but had no idea what I was taking or what it was for - there also wasn't as obvious a drug problem among kids at that point.

I graduated in 1990 and my son graduated in 2010 - a lot has changed in those twenty years, including the increase in secondary drug sales. Kids have been known to sell their Ritalin to make a quick buck, or what is actually in the pill bottle is not reflected by the label. It's sadly difficult to track, short of the school being willing to hold onto the meds until the student actually needs to take it - under the supervision of a member of staff.

[Boozy]

So young people who attend public schools are no longer entitled to medical privacy.

I think that's a very sad state of affairs.

[Greenday]

So young people who attend public schools are no longer entitled to medical privacy.

I think that's a very sad state of affairs.

It's not a matter of medical privacy. It's a matter of some kid taking too much prescription drugs and the school being sued into oblivion as a result of letting it happen.