New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed [press release] a bill [A4587, PDF] into law Monday that would allow for the administering of edible medical marijuana to sick and disabled children on school grounds without triggering the arrests of parents or educators. The bill, also known as Genny’s Bill [backgrounder], was introduced in June to the New Jersey state assembly after the plight of Genny Barbour, a 16-year-old-girl suffering from autism and epilepsy, gained national attention because school officials refused to allow cannabis oil on school grounds, fearing state or federal charges. Medical Marijuana [JURIST backgrounder], although still controversial, is known to alleviate symptoms and side effects of chronic diseases but is still illegal in many jurisdictions and under federal statutes. The new legislation requires:

boards of education, chief school administrators of nonpublic schools, and chief administrators of facilities providing services to persons with developmental disabilities to adopt a policy authorizing parents, guardians, and primary caregivers to administer medical marijuana to qualifying patients under certain circumstances. In the case of a public or nonpublic school, parents, guardians, 23 and primary caregivers would be authorized to administer medical marijuana to a student in a nonsmokable form while the student is on school grounds, aboard a school bus, or attending a school-sponsored event, provided the administration is consistent with a school policy.

Students in need of medical marijuana in nonsmokable form on school grounds must be authorized to engage in the medical use of marijuana pursuant to the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act [text] and register with the district to ensure safety and correct administration procedures.

In recent years there has been a movement to decriminalize marijuana, which has resulted in at least 20 US states allowing various forms of medical marijuana and four states decriminalizing [CNN report] marijuana all together. The Mexico Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] ruled on Wednesday that four members of the nonprofit Sociedad Mexicana de Autoconsumo Responsable y Tolerante [Facebook page, in Spanish] will be allowed to grow and smoke marijuana. In June of this year the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a law restricting the use of medical marijuana was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. However the idea of legalizing any form of marijuana is still controversial, and voters in Ohio last Tuesday rejected [JURIST, report] a proposal [text, PDF] to legalize the medical and recreational use of marijuana, which some claimed would create a monopoly in the state.