Medical pot on campus: Colleges say no and face lawsuits

Colleges are becoming a battleground in conflict between federal and state marijuana laws as students who use medical pot challenge deces-old campus drug policies. In states were medical marijuana is legal, students disciplined for using it are taking ir schools to court. College officials argue y could lose federal funding for failing to follow federal law that labels cannabis an illegal drug with accepted medical use. Sheida Assar said she was expelled from GateWay Community College in Phoenix last month for violating school’s drug policy after she tested positive for marijuana, which she uses to treat chronic pain from polycystic ovary syndrome.

She was studying diagstic medical sography, Assar said, and an instructor h told her she wouldn’t have any problems if she presented her Arizona medical marijuana card. She typically uses marijuana to help her sleep and h never been under influence in class, she said. “y yanked me out of class in middle of school day,” said Assar, 31, of Chandler, Arizona. “y escorted me to ministration like I was a ... criminal. It’s discrimination, and it also violates my rights under Arizona medical marijuana law.” legal challenges are coming from students studying nursing and or medical specialties who, under school policies, must undergo drug testing.

Assar and or students say y received approval to use medical marijuana from college employees who serve students with health-related needs — only to face discipline from higher-ranking school officials. Assar said she intends to sue GateWay to recoup $2,000 she spent on tuition and or educational expenses and seek more money in dams. Her lawyer alrey has been in contact with school, she said. A GateWay spokeswoman, Christine Lambrakis, said that she could t confirm Assar’s status at school and that college continues to prohibit marijuana use.

Asked about an Arizona Supreme Court ruling last year that overturned a 2012 state law that me possession or use of marijuana on college campuses a crime, Lambrakis said school is in process of reviewing its policies and will t change m in meantime. Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C., allow medical marijuana, and 11 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana, creating clashes with federal law that have been playing out in courts, mostly in employment cases that have h mixed results for medical pot. re don’t appear to be efforts by recreational marijuana users to challenge college drug policies, observers say. That’s likely because states limit recreational use to people 21 and older, excluding most college students, and because re haven’t been successful legal challenges to campus alcohol policies even though state laws allow people 21 and over to drink, y say.

States with medical marijuana laws allow use by people 18 years or older with a doctor’s recommendation, as well as by mirs if ir parents approve. Connecticut nursing student Kathryn Magner sued Sacred Heart University last month after she tested positive for marijuana and was barred from attending required clinical medical rounds, according to her lawsuit. She h begun using marijuana legally in her home state of Massachusetts over summer to treat conditions that were t disclosed in legal documents.

Connecticut law allows medical marijuana and forbids public and private colleges from discriminating against students who use it. A judge cited state’s law in ordering that Magner, 22, from Marlborough, Massachusetts, be allowed to return to medical rounds. lawsuit was settled under undisclosed terms. Before settlement, she stopped using marijuana, passed a drug screening and obtained approval to use medical pot from Fairfield school’s Office of Student Accessibility to try to salv her nursing career, her lawsuit said. But nursing school officials wouldn’t budge, her lawsuit said. “Many schools disability services offices are t universally listened to by university,” said Michael Th Allen, an attorney for Magner. “It just shows that se kinds of issues will become more common if employers and schools don’t abide by law.”

Sacred Heart requires students to “obey law at all times,” but it treats medical marijuana like or disability-related requests and “seeks to provide reasonable accommodation under law,” school officials said in a statement. In Florida, Kaitlin McKeon, of Naples, is suing va Souastern University for expelling her from its nursing program in Fort Myers last year after she tested positive for marijuana. She has a state medical marijuana card to take drug for several conditions. McKeon also said school officials told her re would be problem with her use of medical marijuana under provisions of state law.

But after she failed drug test in January 2018, higher-ranking officials moved to expel her, saying she violated school’s drug policy, her lawsuit says. “It’s really s that va Souastern ... took this stance on this issue and is really preventing a really good, caring person from entering nursing field and living out her dream because she chose a medication that’s legal in Florida but t one that y recognize,” said her lawyer, Michael Minardi. va Souastern officials said y cant comment on pending litigation.  lawsuits have potential to set legal precedents on use of medical marijuana at colleges. In meantime, vocates say, universities can lighten penalties so students do t face expulsion or suspension for legally using medical marijuana. “Universities can effectively decriminalize it, de-punish it and make it t something y focus on,” said Jared Moffat, campaigns coordinator for Marijuana Policy Project, an vocacy group for pro-marijuana laws.