In her new book Asa’s Medicine, Baltimore nurse Ashley Wynn-Grimes, R.N. teaches children and their parents about why some students are administered medical cannabis in school following the passage of H.B. 617 by the Maryland General Assembly in 2020.
H.B. 617, “Conner and Raina’s Law” went into law without the governor’s signature last year permitting school nurses to administer medical cannabis to students who are patients registered with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. Prior to the bill’s passage, parents were required to pick their child up from school whenever they needed their medication, drive them off school property to administer the medical cannabis and then take them back to school.
Wynn-Grimes, who helped author the guidelines on administering medical cannabis to children in schools following the bill’s passage, wanted a simple way to teach students and their parents about why their classmates might require medical cannabis, so she wrote Asa’s Medicine.
In Asa’s Medicine, the main character is a third grader named Asa who takes medical cannabis in school to manage symptoms of his medical condition. After another student calls Asa a “drug user” on the first day of school, he and the school nurse teach this student about the benefits of medical cannabis and how some kids require it like others require insulin or an inhaler.
“As a mother and a nurse, I thought about all the questions kids would have…it’s important for kids and parents to understand just how similar medical cannabis is to other medicine,” Wynn-Grimes said.
The book explains to children and their parents how medical cannabis is administered (most commonly in liquid tincture form for children), why a child might need medical cannabis, and why it’s important to advocate for children requiring medical cannabis in school.
In an interview with The Outlaw Report, Wynn-Grimes explained that in her experience as a cannabis nurse, people are either totally for cannabis as a medical treatment—or totally against it. Because there is still such a prevalent stigma surrounding cannabis use due to years of racist prohibition often fueled by misinformation, Wynn-Grimes wanted to find a simple way to answer questions about children who require medical cannabis without “putting the child, who is the patient, in the line of fire.”
Wynn-Grimes is a registered nurse and founder of Cannabis Nursing Solutions, LLC, which teaches patients and other nurses about medical cannabis and the different cannabis treatment options available. Her book “Asa’s Medicine” can be purchased on Amazon here.
“Asa’s Medicine is still a great tool for teachers, parents and children,” Wynn-Grimes said. “Not only does it teach our kids about medical cannabis in a way that promotes medical equality, it destigmatizes medical cannabis for kids with autism and seizure disorders.”