In a case testing the limits of protections afforded under Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law, a state appellate court has ruled that nursing schools do not need to make accommodations for medical marijuana users, or allow them to skirt the program’s mandated drug testing requirements.

In a case of first impression a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel determined that neither the anti-bias provisions in the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, nor the Medical Marijuana Act require post-secondary schools to accommodate students who use the drug to treat a disability. The ruling reversed a decision from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which allowed a nursing student to sue her school for discrimination over their failure to accommodate her use of the drug to treat alleged disabilities.