420 with CNW — Colorado Governor Enacts Bill Allowing Students Access to Medical Cannabis
Last week, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill to expand access to medical cannabis for students in schools. The state’s current law allows principals the discretion to establish policies that prevent or allow schools to administer and store marijuana-based medicines. Under the new legislation, this discretion is eliminated, which means that school boards will establish policies on how to store marijuana medicines while also allowing their personnel to volunteer to administer it to students who need it as well as possess it.
The governor’s office stated that Polis is also planning to sign another legislation that was recently advanced to his desk. This legislation would increase the recreational marijuana possession limit in Colorado from one ounce to two ounces.
Victoria Graham, who is the governor’s spokesperson, noted in an email that Polis intended to sign the legislation. Earlier, Polis stated that he was pleased to sign SB 21-056, which would allow marijuana to be treated in the same way prescribed medicines were treated. He added that the legislation would make it harder to discriminate against volunteers such as teachers and school nurses who had come forward to administer medical marijuana.
NORML state policies manager Carly Wolf stated that students who depend on medical marijuana shouldn’t be denied access simply because the marijuana needed to be administered in a school setting.
Cannabis advocates note that while this legislation is a step in the right direction, they look forward to the governor signing the bill to double the cannabis possession threshold for individuals aged 21 and above in the state. This legislation would also need courts to grant requests to seal previous records of marijuana possession if the proper documentation has been provided. This would eliminate the need to consult with a district attorney.
Wolf explained that passing this law would prompt law enforcement to direct their resources toward fighting other crimes instead of expending resources to arrest individuals for minor, nonviolent offenses. The law would also make sure that low-level offenders don’t have to pay fines they couldn’t afford.
This change in policy may significantly influence future pardons. In October 2020, the governor issued an executive order that gave clemency to nearly 3,000 individuals who had been convicted of possession. However, his office decided not to pardon individuals who had been convicted of possessing more than an ounce of marijuana because that amount was in violation of the present state law.
It is such progressive laws that give cannabis sector players such as Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: GLH) (OTCQB: GLDFF) hope that a time will come when the existing regulatory hurdles that make it challenging to operate in the cannabis space will be eased to enable the sector to grow even faster.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: GLH) (OTCQB: GLDFF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/GLDFF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
Last week, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill to expand access to medical cannabis for students in schools. The state’s current law allows principals the discretion to establish policies that prevent or allow schools to administer and store marijuana-based medicines. Under the new legislation, this discretion is eliminated, which means that school boards will establish policies on how to store marijuana medicines while also allowing their personnel to volunteer to administer it to students who need it as well as possess it.
The governor’s office stated that Polis is also planning to sign another legislation that was recently advanced to his desk. This legislation would increase the recreational marijuana possession limit in Colorado from one ounce to two ounces.
Victoria Graham, who is the governor’s spokesperson, noted in an email that Polis intended to sign the legislation. Earlier, Polis stated that he was pleased to sign SB 21-056, which would allow marijuana to be treated in the same way prescribed medicines were treated. He added that the legislation would make it harder to discriminate against volunteers such as teachers and school nurses who had come forward to administer medical marijuana.
NORML state policies manager Carly Wolf stated that students who depend on medical marijuana shouldn’t be denied access simply because the marijuana needed to be administered in a school setting.
Cannabis advocates note that while this legislation is a step in the right direction, they look forward to the governor signing the bill to double the cannabis possession threshold for individuals aged 21 and above in the state. This legislation would also need courts to grant requests to seal previous records of marijuana possession if the proper documentation has been provided. This would eliminate the need to consult with a district attorney.
Wolf explained that passing this law would prompt law enforcement to direct their resources toward fighting other crimes instead of expending resources to arrest individuals for minor, nonviolent offenses. The law would also make sure that low-level offenders don’t have to pay fines they couldn’t afford.
This change in policy may significantly influence future pardons. In October 2020, the governor issued an executive order that gave clemency to nearly 3,000 individuals who had been convicted of possession. However, his office decided not to pardon individuals who had been convicted of possessing more than an ounce of marijuana because that amount was in violation of the present state law.
It is such progressive laws that give cannabis sector players such as Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: GLH) (OTCQB: GLDFF) hope that a time will come when the existing regulatory hurdles that make it challenging to operate in the cannabis space will be eased to enable the sector to grow even faster.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: GLH) (OTCQB: GLDFF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/GLDFF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
