"I'm angry, I'm angry," said Angel McClary Raich.
Raich can't believe what had happened to her. She has epilepsy and a terminal brain condition and her neurologist sent her to UCSF Medical Center to get a brain scan. At first, the staff was OK with her cannabis vaporizer, until an hour later, at which point they kicked her out.
"Another doctor came in and she went to the pharmacy and the pharmacy said they were going to call the Feds if I used the cannabis and I said, 'Look, I have a right to use it, all my documentation is in there, I'm vaporizing it, I'm not smoking it.' And she said, 'Well, we're going to call the feds,' then and I said, 'Call them,'" said Raich.
Raich is a well-known advocate for medical pot. She sued the government 10 years ago for outlawing marijuana even though states like California allow it for medicinal purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against her.
"They backed down from the Feds when they realized who I was and then they were going to call the police. They ended up calling the police. They had two law enforcement officers and their security guards physically kick me out of the hospital," said Raich.
Raich believes she has less than a year to live. She experiences seizures often. In fact, she had one Monday night just outside the hospital. She was released a short time later. As to why UCSF has a problem with her using cannabis now, is puzzling to her. She says she was treated at this same hospital five years ago and the staff didn't have a problem with it then.
"I can tell you that on my last dying day what I really wanted to do was die at home in my bed left alone. I wasn't even working anymore. Now, I'm going to spend every last breath suing that hospital," said Raich.
Late Monday night, we received a statement from UCSF Medical Center saying, "UCSF is a smoke-free campus and this includes medical marijuana... even a vaporized form of medical marijuana releases particles in the air that are damaging to the lung. Any particles from vapor and odor could have an impact on other patients and hospital employees."
