Before Jayden Carter turned 9, police were called 126 times to his school, home and other locations to address his violent behavior.The situation got so dire that Child Protective Services encouraged Amie to sign her rights to Jayden away, a step that would allow the state to put him in permanent treatment.
Jayden is one of Michigan’s 207 minors with medical marijuana cards. He’s been a cardholder since he was 9 years old, qualifying for nausea, migraines and eventually autism. Jayden was diagnosed with Asperger’s, ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder when he was 2 years old. The disconnect between state and federal policies leads to all kinds of problems for patients. Medical marijuana is not covered by health insurance — leaving some patients with bills of over $1,000 per month. Only nine states and the District of Columbia recognize medical marijuana cards issued by other states, meaning patients must either refrain from travel, forgo relief for their symptoms, or risk arrest by taking marijuana with them across state lines. And just 10 states and D.C.
The federal government has taken minimal steps to protect or expand access to medical marijuana since California became the first state to legalize it nearly 25 years ago. In 2014, Congress approved an appropriations amendment that prohibits the Department of Justice from using federal funds to interfere in state-regulated medical marijuana markets. In 2018, it legalized CBD and other hemp products that contain 0.3 percent or less of THC.
“It seems like every time I go to school, teachers be waiting,” Jayden said. “Last year, I was getting accused of bringing weed stuff every day. I wasn’t, but they knew I had my card.”CPS came to the Carters’ home in October and concluded that Jayden and Amie were following the law — but the incidents with principals, doctors and CPS increased Jayden’s already heightened anxiety. In November, he withdrew from his public high school and enrolled in a part-time charter school.
Vicky Blake of San Francisco laughs in her senior living home during an interview. Blake has been a medical marijuana card holder since the 90s, when she was diagnosed with HIV. | Natalie Fertig/POLITICO In all that time, however, the blueprint for how states regulate and patients access medical marijuana has not changed very much. The FDA has approved two cannabis-based drugs such as Epidiolex, but the vast majority of medical marijuana programs function almost wholly outside of the traditional medical system: no prescriptions, no FDA regulation, no insurance coverage.
Thank you so much for covering this important issue! As the largest national medical cannabis patient org, we believe it is vitally important to keep reminding people that patients must not be forgotten.
So, just like everything else in this godawful country
That’s what u get when your HIGH all the time !