Terminally Ill Cancer Patient Cited for Cannabis Use in Hospital
In December 2022, hospital staff in Hays, Kansas reported a terminally ill cancer patient to police for use of a cannabis vape pen.
In late December 2022, police officers issued a citation for a drug violation to 69-year-old Greg Bretz and removed his vaping pen and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) paste, which had been confiscated by hospital staff (1). Bretz had been using the cannabis products in the hospital to cope with the symptoms of his terminal, inoperable cancer. The drug possession ticket was later dismissed.
“You’d think they would have shown a lot more compassion and not done anything,” said Lee Bretz, Greg Bretz’s son (2). “He can’t make it to court. He’s bedridden. He can’t move his legs.”
A local television station in Kansas reported that the news of the situation, which had gone viral online, purportedly led to alleged threats against the hospital and police (2).
“As a police officer, we don’t determine what the law is,” said Hays police chief Don Scheibler (2). “I think the discussion about medical marijuana needs to happen.”
“It is traumatic enough to be dying of cancer – it is absolutely unconscionable to add on, for no reason beyond fealty to a losing drug war, the added trauma of being arrested,” said Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a cannabis specialist (1). “While cannabis hasn’t yet been shown to ‘cure’ cancer in humans, it is spectacularly effective for the ravages of chemotherapy – the nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite – as well as the pain, anxiety and insomnia that almost always accompany the experience of a terminal cancer.”
Though Kansas does have a medical cannabis program, medical cannabis advocacy is still needed across the country, according to Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest nonprofit that represents medical cannabis patients, doctors, and researchers. “On paper, it looks like medical cannabis policy is doing well,” said ASA’s founder and president Steph Sherer in a recent blog (3). “But on the ground, we see medical cannabis programs corroding alongside adult-use programs, fewer bills passing to improve state medical cannabis programs, millions of people still left without access, and a lack of movement for federal protections.”
References
Medical Cannabis Campaigning with Americans for Safe Access
September 4th 2024As discussions about the federal scheduling of cannabis continue, efforts by medical cannabis advocates are intensifying. One such advocate is Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a nonprofit organization founded by patients for patients. Since 2002, ASA has been championing the rights of medical cannabis patients and has recently launched new campaigns and strategies to refocus attention on patient needs. In this interview, Steph Sherer, founder and president of ASA, reflects on past successes in medical cannabis advocacy, shares her perspective on recent cannabis and hemp policymaking, and outlines the next steps for advancing a unified medical cannabis message on Capitol Hill—a message that could bring about the changes patients have long awaited.
