Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso

Chairperson, Committee on Education

Committee on Health
Joint Public Hearing on B23-467, “Student Medical Marijuana Patient Fairness
Amendment Act of 2019”
November 13, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Gray, for joining me in holding this joint hearing today on the Student Medical
Marijuana Patient Fairness Amendment Act of 2019.

The voters of the District of Columbia approved the establishment of a medical marijuana
program in 1999, but due to Congressional interference, the program was not up and running
until about a decade ago.

Since that time, the Council and the executive have worked to improve the program to make
medical marijuana available to D.C. residents who need it, including minors with serious health
conditions, such as epilepsy, for which medical marijuana is one of the most effective
treatments.

The bill before us today would make permanent changes we made earlier this year on an
emergency basis to allow students who are participating in the medical marijuana program to
receive their medication at school.

Before Council action, the law restricted the use of medical marijuana to a residence or a
medical treatment facility. As a result, schools believed that they could not allow a student to
receive their medication on-site, even though that disrupts the student’s learning.

No student should have to choose between attending school and receiving effective treatment
for a medical condition.

To be clear, this law would only allow for students who are patients in the medical marijuana
program run by the Department of Health to receive medication at school.

They would need to fulfill all obligations for participating in that program, which includes
recommendation of a doctor, and would also need their doctor and legal guardian, if a minor,
to submit the appropriate certifications per school policy.

This is a relatively minor change to the law that will affect only a handful of students in D.C.,
but it can make a big difference for them.

Thank you to all the witnesses here today and I look forward to the discussion.
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