Students who have been expelled for using medical marijuana are now suing their colleges.

In lawsuits in Arizona, Connecticut and Florida, students have complained that they were kicked out from schools in states where medical cannabis is allowed.

The legal challenges are coming from students studying nursing and other medical specialties who, under school policies, must undergo drug testing.

University officials, however, argue they could lose government funding for failing to follow federal law, which labels pot an illegal drug with no accepted medical use.

Colleges across the US are being sued by former students who were expelled after testing positive for marijuana, even though they live in states where medical pot is legal. Pictured: Sheida Assar, 31, who said she was expelled from GateWay Community College in Phoenix last month after she tested positive for marijuana, which she uses to treat chronic pain

Sheida Assar, 31, said she was expelled from GateWay Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, last month for violating the school's drug policy after she tested positive for marijuana.

She says she uses pot to treat chronic pain from polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder that causes the ovaries to become enlarged and to develop numerous small cysts on the outer edges.

Assar, who was studying diagnostic medical sonography, said she was told she wouldn't have any problems if she presented her Arizona medical marijuana card.

She adds that she has never been under the influence in class.

'They yanked me out of class in the middle of the school day,' said Assar of Chandler, Arizona.

'They escorted me to the administration like I was a...criminal. It's discrimination, and it also violates my rights under the Arizona medical marijuana law.'

Assar and other students say they 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 the $2,000 she spent on tuition and other educational expenses and to seek more money in damages.

A GateWay spokeswoman, Christine Lambrakis, said she could not confirm Assar's status at the school and that the college continues to prohibit marijuana use.

In 2018, an Arizona Supreme Court ruling overturned a 2012 state law making possession or use of marijuana on college campuses a crime.

When asked about this, Lambrakis said the school is in the process of reviewing its policies and will not change them in the meantime.

THE STATE OF MARIJUANA IN 2020 Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and Washington, DC. Meanwhile, medical marijuana has been legalized in 33 states and DC. To get medical marijuana, users need a written recommendation from their doctor, while recreational marijuana can be grown or bought at dispensaries.

Medical marijuana states: Arizona

Arkansas

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Hawaii

Louisiana

Maryland

Minnesota

Missouri

Montana

New Hampshire

New Mexico

New Jersey

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Utah

West Virginia Recreational and medical marijuana states: Alaska

California

Colorado

Illinois

Maine

Massachusetts

Michigan

Nevada

Oregon

Vermont

Washington

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Currently, 33 states and Washington, DC, allow medical marijuana, and 11 states and DC have legalized recreational marijuana.

States with medical marijuana laws allow use by people 18 years or older with a doctor's recommendation, as well as by minors if their parents approve.

A 2018 poll from the Pew Research Center found that 62 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, double the number from two decades ago in 2000.

Opinions of legalization differ by political party, with 69 percent of Democrats supporting it compared with 75 percent of Independents and just 45 percent of Republicans.

Additionally, 90 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use.

Connecticut nursing student Kathryn Magner, 22, 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 had begun using marijuana legally in her home state of Massachusetts over the summer to treat conditions that were not 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 the state's law in ordering that Magner, from Marlborough, be allowed to return to the medical rounds. The lawsuit was settled under undisclosed terms.

Before the settlement, she stopped using marijuana, passed a drug screening and obtained approval to use medical pot from the school's Office of Student Accessibility, her lawsuit said.

However, nursing school officials wouldn't let her back into the program.

'Many schools disability services offices are not universally listened to by the university,' said Michael Thad Allen, an attorney for Magner.

'It just shows that these kinds of issues will become more common if employers and schools don't abide by the law.'

In the meantime, advocates say, universities can lighten penalties so students do not face expulsion or suspension for legally using medical marijuana.

'Universities can effectively decriminalize it, de-punish it and make it not something they focus on,' said Jared Moffat, campaigns coordinator for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group for pro-marijuana laws.