Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed into law a bill that expands students’ access to medical marijuana while at school. 

The bill boasted bipartisan support, led by Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, a Republican from Douglas County. It builds on two pieces of legislation previously approved by the General Assembly: Jack’s Law and Quintin’s Amendment. 

Those measures, passed in 2016 and 2018 respectively, allow non-smokable medical marijuana to be administered to a student. Jack’s Law allows parents or caregivers to administer the medicine while Quintin’s Amendment gave principals the authority to allow it to be stored on campus and administered by school nurses and designated personnel.

Despite that discretion allowed under law, policymakers in some districts have opted against allowing on-campus storage or administration by school officials – including the Douglas County school board in Holbert’s district. That left a pair of his constituents entangled in a legal battle to provide potentially life-saving medication to their high school-age son.

Brad and Amber Wann told lawmakers at the hearing their son, Ben, an epileptic, uses hemp oil to prevent seizures and relies on a nasal spray with THC to stop seizures if they occur. But he was banned from keeping the nasal spray at school, a move Holbert said during a committee hearing he found especially troubling because Ben is severely allergic to the nasal pharmaceutical that rescue paramedics normally apply to treat seizures.

Speaking at the bill signing, Holbert said he learned of the “challenges of the constitutional difference” between a prescription and a doctor’s recommendation when on a Zoom call with school nurses last summer.

“I asked during that, ‘What if I just passed a law that said a doctor’s recommendation was the same as a prescription?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, that would pretty much do it,’ ” Holbert said.

While the bill isn’t that straightforward – Holbert said he learned through the process he shouldn’t call a physician’s medical marijuana recommendation a prescription – it largely provides the same practical solution to school nurses.

With the Wann family watching on, Polis praised Brad and Amber’s broad outreach on behalf of their son as “a perfect example of citizen-led advocacy.”

“Brad and Amber went above and beyond the call of duty, contacted everyone they could: their school district, that Douglas County School Board, the superintendent, they contacted me, they contacted their state legislators, exactly what citizens should do when they need a change,” he said.

The bill’s House sponsors, Reps. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, and Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, also heaped praise on the Wanns. Van Winkle noted the family “made this happen from beginning to end” and added the Wanns were “the driver behind it” while Gray highlighted the need for lawmakers to engage with their consituents.

“As the governor said, when we do our best work is when we listen and then we respond and we deliver so I am just very proud to be a part of this effort today,” he said.