Kansas Police Raid Terminally Ill Patient's Hospital Room Over Weed, THC Report

Police raided a terminally ill cancer patient's hospital room in Kansas on Dec. 16 for using weed vape and THC paste to ease his severe symptoms.

The 69-year-old patient, Greg Bretz, is in the final stages of inoperable cancer. He is hospitalized at Hays Medical Center, journalist Dion Lefler wrote in the Kansas City Star Saturday.

A hospital worker caught Bretz using the products and reported him to authorities.

Police went into Bretz's room on Dec. 16 and seized his vaping device and some edible paste containing THC. They cited him for drug possession.

The patient told Lefler by phone from his hospital room that he had been vaping and eating THC paste with bread in order to relieve symptoms of his condition since being admitted to the hospital three weeks ago.

"He said a doctor told him to do whatever he wants if it makes him feel better, because there's basically nothing medical science can do for him anymore other than hospice care," Lefler wrote of his conversation with Bretz.

Bretz also said that he lies "flat on [his] back" in his hospital bed and cannot even stand up without assistance.

Officers told Bretz that the vaping device was a fire hazard because the room is equipped with oxygen.

Vape devices usually contain a small electronic element that heats the liquid to steam for inhalation. Some patients have even suffered burns after using malfunctioned vapes while inhaling oxygen through a nasal tube, the New York Post reported.

Bretz told Lefler that he is not on supplemental oxygen and that the police appeared intent on confiscating his medicinal paste since his vaping liquid contains only a tiny amount of THC, if any.

The cancer patient added that he would try to ask the prosecutor to postpone his Jan. 2 court hearing.

Medicinal marijuana is legal in 47 other states and the District of Columbia — and 21 states have approved the recreational and medical use of cannabis.

Kansas is among the three states, together with Nebraska and Idaho, where medical marijuana is banned.