CARIBOU, Maine — The RSU 39 Board of Education recently approved a slightly updated medical marijuana policy during a Feb. 5 meeting based on recent changes in the state law.
The law allows students, with medical approval, to receive a dosage of medical marijuana on school grounds in a monitored environment. RSU 39 Superintendent Tim Doak said the only major change is that it needs to be administered by a caregiver, whereas in the past it was only the parent who could administer the drug.
Under Maine’s medical marijuana law, the caregiver for a patient under the age of 18 must be a parent, guardian or have custody of the child. The student receiving the marijuana also needs to have written certification for medical usage.
Doak said that either he or the principal would need to designate the space in which the caregiver would administer the drug, adding that it would not be in a smokeable form or in a vape pen. He said the caregiver would also need to be escorted through the school and sign in at the main office.
The board had previously approved a similar version of the law, and Doak said these changes are minor and will not create any significant differences from when the board approved the policy’s first iteration.
The next board meeting is scheduled for March 4.
