Hospitals should be places where patients go to get better. Hospitals should be places where you are allowed to take medicine that helps your health. However, if a patient tries to consume medical marijuana at a hospital, they are likely to get kicked out, which is sad. One Senator in Maine wants to change that. Senator Eric Brakey has introduced a bill that would allow consumption of medical marijuana at Maine hospitals. Per the Bangor Daily News:
State Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, is sponsoring legislation that would allow medical marijuana patients legal access to their prescriptions in a hospital.
Brakey’s bill, LD 35: An Act To Allow a Qualifying Patient To Use Medical Marijuana in a Hospital, is a response to federal licensing laws that prohibit patients from using legally prescribed medical marijuana in the hospital.
According to a news release issued by Brakey’s office, the issue recently has been in the spotlight in Maine because of a Dixfield mother’s efforts to ensure her daughter, who suffers from severe epilepsy, could have access to her medical marijuana during a hospital stay.
I get that smoking is not allowed at hospitals, marijuana or otherwise. But if a patient wants to consume a smokeless for of medical marijuana while they are being treated at a hospital, I don’t see what the problem is. Patients should be served at a hospital in a way that is consistent with compassion, and not be denied service for political reasons. Marijuana is medicine, and patients should be allowed to use it, especially at hospitals.
