1.

Do you believe that the officers were within their rights to search the patient and his
belongings?

Yes, the officers were within their legal rights to search the patient and their belongings due to
having “probable cause” to believe that the patient has illegal substances in their possession.
However, we do not believe that officers should have searched the patient for Cannabis due to
reports of smelling it. Cannabis is not a dangerous drug, nor is it bad. Studies have shown that it
has many health benefits. But we do feel as if the officers searched the patient not at the
appropriate time, and place.

2.What would you do if you were a part of the hospital staff and this was your patient?

How would you have handled the situation? If we were the patient, we would have been very
upset, and would have denied the search just as the patient did. we feel as if he handled the
situation properly. (we would have expressed that majority hospitals are smoke-free, and that
they never search patients who smell like cigaret smoke. So why search me?) The smell of
marijuana carries around the person. It could have just as easily been an employee who smelled
of marijuana. People do come to work after smoking

3.Should health care providers be subject to criminal penalties when they are aware that
their patients use marijuana or products containing marijuana? Does it matter that the
patient is utilizing such products to treat an underlying medical condition?

No healthcare providers should not be subjected to criminal penalties being aware that patients
use cannabis products to treat themselves. We feel as if patients have the right to decide if they
want to treat themselves with cannabis. Cannabis is proven to treat medical conditions without
the side effects that many opioid or narcotic drugs can cause. A natural plant that naturally grows
and can be used as a form of medicine should never be rejected as a form of medicine. The
consumption of the cannabis product if any carries a misdemeanor charge. It does not warrant a
search and seizure..

4.Are there any ethical issues raised? What about bioethical issues? Ethical. - 1.)The police
having the right to search the patient without consent. 2.) The patient having the right to
medicate himself with a “illegal” substance.

Bioethical - 1.)Hippocrates the father of medicine once said, “Let food be thy medicine and
medicine be thy food” Therefore if cannabis (food) is good, let it be “thy” medicine to treat our
bodies. Cannabis is very converal and it is an ethical solution to the bioethical issue of
determining if cannabis is a sourceful form of medine.

5.) Any other thoughts?

Opioids should be illegal, and Cannabis should be legal.

.

“10 Most Common Conditions Medical Cannabis Is Prescribed For.” Canabo Medical Clinic, 7
Mar. 2018, www.canabomedicalclinic.com/10-common-conditions-medical-cannabis-
prescribed-for/.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Marijuana as Medicine.” NIDA,

www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine.