Missouri Police Search Stage 4 Cancer Patient's Hospital Room For Marijuana

Police in Bolivar, Missouri are facing a wave of criticism after a video showed them searching the belongings of a stage 4 cancer patient for marijuana. Nolan Sousley was trying to sleep in a room at Citizens Memorial Hospital when a security guard came in claiming he smelled marijuana. The security guard asked to search Sousley's belongings but was denied and called the police.

When officers arrived, they began rifling through his belongings looking for marijuana. Sousley told them he did not have any marijuana but did admit to taking THC pills in the parking lot.

“I had some capsules that had some THC oil in them,” Sousley tells the officers. “I took them outside on the parking lot.”

Voters passed a bill in 2018 making medicinal marijuana legal in the state, but the regulations have not been set up, and it is still illegal to possess marijuana for any reason.

“If we find marijuana, we’ll give you a citation. We’re not taking you down to the county jail,” the second officer told him.

The officers did not find any marijuana and left without further incident, but Sousley's video of the search went viral, sparking outrage from people all over the world. After the incident, the Facebook page for the Bolivar Police Department had to be shut down because it was inundated with negative comments.

The hospital released a statement apologizing to Sousley and his family for how they were treated.

"Respect is a part of our core values," the statement said. "Our actions in this recent event did not reflect who we are as an organization. We pride ourselves in providing compassionate care to all patients, and we fell short of expectations. We apologize to our patient and his family and friends who were affected by our actions."