Colorado Hospital to Review Policy After Allegedly Snatching Cannabis from Grieving Mother

Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, Colorado is rethinking how it handles cannabis after facing pressure from local media and the community. 11 news report Hospitals are reviewing their policies if adult or medical marijuana is found, following an incident a few months ago. Currently, hospital staff destroy cannabis unless family members are present immediately to take it home.

Lori Blochagen, a mother in Chaffee County, said she only learned that her son, who was serving in the US Marine Corps, took his own life when he was rushed to the hospital a few months ago. was under extreme stress and believed he was having a heart attack. Ms. Blochhagen was taken by helicopter to hospital, where she was then surprised to face a search by security guards over all her belongings.

“They took me out on a stretcher. They pulled me to the door and there were two guards.” Blochhagen Said 11 news.

Security guards were said to have focused on removing the cannabis they found from her bag.

“I had a bag and they pulled it out of my arm. I tried pulling it back. They took it away from me and I was like, ‘What are you doing? ‘ What’s going on?” I didn’t know there was. I’ve never had that kind of treatment in a hospital,” Blochhagen said.

She felt more like a criminal than someone being treated in a hospital, and couldn’t see about a gram of weed in her bag.

“She (the security guard) started to process things and took out a school bag. I had a small pipe, probably about a gram of cannabis, and a lighter.

“Parkview became aware of the patient’s concerns on January 13, 2023, seven months after the patient was admitted to Parkview. , e-mails and letters, we have been in touch many times.

according to Parkview Visitor Policy, page 26, Medication From Home: “Patients must notify nurses if they bring medications into the hospital from home… Prescribed medical and recreational marijuana is not allowed into the hospital. Family members bring it back.” If there is no arrangement, it will be destroyed.”

Parkview is currently reviewing this policy.

Most hospitals have strict cannabis policies. fear of losing federal money It is accredited through the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and complies with FDA regulations. But hospital staff and security guards aren’t there to enforce the law.

State laws are slowly changing to allow non-smoking forms of medical cannabis in some cases.

Several states have taken steps to allow medical marijuana use in hospitals. In California, patients with certain conditions are allowed to bring medical cannabis into hospitals, but certain forms are restricted.

California approved Senate Bill 311 Or Ryan’s Law allows terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in medical facilities. However, the proposal prohibits patients from inhaling or vaping herbal cannabis products. It also restricts the use of all forms of cannabis in emergency rooms.

California State Legislature and Senate Approved law And sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would allow the use of medical cannabis products inside hospitals and other qualified health care facilities.