Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The parents of a 16-year-old girl with epilepsy who have sued her school district to allow her to consume medical marijuana oil on school grounds took their battle to daytime television Monday by appearing on ABC's "The View."
In a live interview, Lora and Roger Barbour of Maple Shade explained to co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Paula Faris how their homemade cannabis oil has succeeded in controlling their daughter Genny's seizures and even improved her speech.
Lora Barbour wept as she recalled the day in April when Genny walked up to her father and said, "I love you." It wasn't just the feelings behind the words that moved them, but their oldest daughter's ability to speak more than one word at a time. "It brought us to tears," Roger Barbour said.
The Barbours' appearance comes a week after their latest legal loss. State Administrative Law Judge John S. Kennedy denied an emergency motion seeking permission for Lora Barbour to come to The Larc School in Bellmawr every day at lunchtime to give her daughter her midday dose of oil, mixed with a soft drink.
"There are no doctor's reports from (Genny Barbour's) treating physician that would establish that her lunchtime dose of marijuana is medically necessary," according to the opinion by Kennedy, who has twice ruled against the family's request this year to have the school nurse administer the dose. The judge said the Maple Shade district and the Larc school were obligated to adhere to state drug-free school laws.
"The judge got it wrong," Roger Barbour said, arguing that the state medical marijuana provides "exceptions if you have a license." His wife is Genny's registered caregiver who is legally protected from arrest from possession edible marijuana.
"It's a handicap school, and they give medicine to all of these children," Lora Barbour said. Compared to the pharmaceuticals and their potentially dangerous side effects, marijuana "is safer than any of these drugs."
The Barbours have sent Genny to school half-days since April to ensure she receives the oil four times a day as her doctor has recommended. Her seizures occur about every five days now, instead of several times a day before she started on cannabis oil, they have said.
"We even asked if we could sneak it in her lunch," Lora Barbour told the TV show hosts. "That's what most parents do."
"We went in really naïve to the school...we filled out your medication policy form. They said no," Roger Barbour said. "We are trying to advance this through the courts."
Roger Barbour, an attorney, is appealing the case in state and federal court on the grounds that his daughter is being denied her education because of her illness.
A bill passed in June by the state legislature and awaiting action by Gov. Chris Christie would require school districts to set policy allowing children who are registered with the state medical marijuana program to allow for its edible use on school grounds.
Goldberg said The View reached out to the governor's office and was told, "The governor does not comment on pending legislation. Yeah," she said in a sarcastic tone eliciting laughter from the audience.
Yale University School of Medicine Professor Sheryl Ryan, sitting in the audience next to Genny and her 13-year-old sister Marlee, said cannabis oil in this case "seems like a reasonable use." But the American Academy of Pediatrics has generally opposed medical marijuana, saying there is no science to support it.
What about the families who resorted to medical marijuana as a "desperate measure? There is your science," Goldberg replied.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey on Monday joined the Barbours public fight to press the governor to sign the edible marijuana at school bill. Referencing Christie's statement during the Republican debate last week in which he said he supported medical marijuana.*edit*
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: New Jersey Family In Medical Marijuana Dispute With School Appears On 'The View'
Author: Susan K. Livio
Contact: Contact Page
Photo Credit: Harrison Hill For The Boston Globe
Website: New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NJ.com
In a live interview, Lora and Roger Barbour of Maple Shade explained to co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Paula Faris how their homemade cannabis oil has succeeded in controlling their daughter Genny's seizures and even improved her speech.
Lora Barbour wept as she recalled the day in April when Genny walked up to her father and said, "I love you." It wasn't just the feelings behind the words that moved them, but their oldest daughter's ability to speak more than one word at a time. "It brought us to tears," Roger Barbour said.
The Barbours' appearance comes a week after their latest legal loss. State Administrative Law Judge John S. Kennedy denied an emergency motion seeking permission for Lora Barbour to come to The Larc School in Bellmawr every day at lunchtime to give her daughter her midday dose of oil, mixed with a soft drink.
"There are no doctor's reports from (Genny Barbour's) treating physician that would establish that her lunchtime dose of marijuana is medically necessary," according to the opinion by Kennedy, who has twice ruled against the family's request this year to have the school nurse administer the dose. The judge said the Maple Shade district and the Larc school were obligated to adhere to state drug-free school laws.
"The judge got it wrong," Roger Barbour said, arguing that the state medical marijuana provides "exceptions if you have a license." His wife is Genny's registered caregiver who is legally protected from arrest from possession edible marijuana.
"It's a handicap school, and they give medicine to all of these children," Lora Barbour said. Compared to the pharmaceuticals and their potentially dangerous side effects, marijuana "is safer than any of these drugs."
The Barbours have sent Genny to school half-days since April to ensure she receives the oil four times a day as her doctor has recommended. Her seizures occur about every five days now, instead of several times a day before she started on cannabis oil, they have said.
"We even asked if we could sneak it in her lunch," Lora Barbour told the TV show hosts. "That's what most parents do."
"We went in really naïve to the school...we filled out your medication policy form. They said no," Roger Barbour said. "We are trying to advance this through the courts."
Roger Barbour, an attorney, is appealing the case in state and federal court on the grounds that his daughter is being denied her education because of her illness.
A bill passed in June by the state legislature and awaiting action by Gov. Chris Christie would require school districts to set policy allowing children who are registered with the state medical marijuana program to allow for its edible use on school grounds.
Goldberg said The View reached out to the governor's office and was told, "The governor does not comment on pending legislation. Yeah," she said in a sarcastic tone eliciting laughter from the audience.
Yale University School of Medicine Professor Sheryl Ryan, sitting in the audience next to Genny and her 13-year-old sister Marlee, said cannabis oil in this case "seems like a reasonable use." But the American Academy of Pediatrics has generally opposed medical marijuana, saying there is no science to support it.
What about the families who resorted to medical marijuana as a "desperate measure? There is your science," Goldberg replied.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey on Monday joined the Barbours public fight to press the governor to sign the edible marijuana at school bill. Referencing Christie's statement during the Republican debate last week in which he said he supported medical marijuana.*edit*
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: New Jersey Family In Medical Marijuana Dispute With School Appears On 'The View'
Author: Susan K. Livio
Contact: Contact Page
Photo Credit: Harrison Hill For The Boston Globe
Website: New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NJ.com
