Eagle, CO — Fourth-grader Quintin Lovato suffers from epilepsy and Tourette’s syndrome, and for most of his life, these conditions have made living a normal life nearly impossible for him. Quintin had trouble with basic functions, and could barely walk until his family discovered the healing power of cannabis oil. Luckily, Quintin lives in Colorado, where cannabis is legal and considered medicine, and he has been able to treat his debilitating conditions with the herb legally.
Quintin has seen radical improvements in his condition thanks to cannabis, and it has helped him to start living a normal life. Quintin has even been able to take his medicine to school this year so that he can be in his best shape for class “It’s the first day of school where Quintin gets to take his cannabis to school,” his mother Hannah Lovato told KDVR. “I honestly think if he wasn’t taking cannabis for his seizures and Tourette’s he probably… I don’t know if he’d be going to public school to be honest with you,” Hannah added.
Quintin’s reading teacher Terry Plain is now a believer, after seeing the results in her student for herself. “Q was so sluggish all the time. He would come to school not ready to learn at all,” Plain said. However, now that he is on the cannabis oil, Plain says that the results are “miraculous.” “He lit up. He was wide-eyed. He was noticing things. He was engaged in learning,” Plain said.
Unfortunately, some of the state’s regulations are putting Quintin and his family in a bit of an awkward situation. Quintin needs his medication a few times a day so it can remain active, but due to state regulations, his mother has to be the one to give him the medication.
Hannah needs to take her son out of class on a regular basis to give him his medicine, but this type of constant parental involvement has led to teasing and bullying.
“A lot of bullying. Why can’t you go through the school day without your mommy?” Hannah said.
The teasing has gotten so bad that the family has decided to skip their mid-day dose, even though it has a noticeable effect on his class performance.
“It prevented me from having friends,” he said.
The Lovato family has now taken their fight to Colorado state lawmakers, in hopes of changing the laws to allow children to take this medication at school without their parents.
They received support from Rep. Dylan Roberts, who put forward a bill that amended the existing law to allow school nurses to administer cannabis as they do with any other medication. “It’s going to be life-changing. Nobody is even going to know he’s gone for five seconds to take his medicine,” Hannah Lovato said.
Quintin says that he is no longer treated like the “weird kid” or a “mommas boy” and is now able to make friends without that added stigma that he carried before. Individual schools will have the ability to decide whether they want to adopt this policy or not.