Terminally ill cancer patient live streams moment police search his room for marijuana
A terminal cancer patient has live streamed from his hospital bed the moment police searched his room for marijuana.
Nolan Sousley, of Missouri in the US, is receiving treatment for stage four pancreatic cancer at Citizens Memorial Hospital.
According to his Facebook page, Nolan’s Tribe of Warriors Against Cancer, he was hospitalised in May last year.
He claims to use tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) pills for treatment, which contains cannabis.
In Missouri, medicinal cannabis was legalised following a bill which passed in November last year, however the state’s department of health is still developing the rules around the law and as yet, medical marijuana cards can’t even be applied for.
On Wednesday, Mr Sousley live-streamed via his Facebook page as three police officers searching his belongings after complaints someone had been smoking marijuana in the room – a claim the patient denies.
In the video, Mr Sousley says he had taken THC tablets in the parking lot of the hospital and tells his viewers he’s about to be arrested.
An officer in a beanie informs him he’ll be handed a citation if marijuana is found but won’t be taken to jail.
“You’d never say you’d do anything to save your life?” Mr Sousley asks him.
“Marijuana’s saving your life?” the officer says.
Another officer wearing blue gloves goes through a number of backpacks.
A doctor enters and police explain they have the right to search despite not having a warrant.
The officer in the beanie tells the doctor there’s one bag he wants to search. Mr Sousley says he’s already shown the bag to police but won’t give it to them.
“If we can just search it to clear there’s no marijuana in it,” he says.
“I’m not giving you a thing – just write me a ticket for marijuana,” Mr Sousley says.
He tells the doctor he wants to go home, but while all the backpacks have been given the all-clear, the the officer in the beanie again asks to search the bag behind Mr Sousley.
“It’s a bag of my medication – I’m not letting them dig through it,” he says.
“It has my final day things in there and nobody’s going to dig in it.”
The argument continues before Mr Sousley stops recording following a request from the doctor.
The video has more than 580,000 views with many angered and accusing police of “harassing a dying man”.
“The cops must be really bored if they’re coming to a call about marijuana,” one woman wrote.
Another added: “It’s disgusting”.
Mr Sousley told Bolivar Herald-Free Press a security guard at the hospital called the police after witnessing him smoke a cigar in the parking lot. The security guard also asked to search the bags, Mr Sousley said but he refused.
He added he was heavily medicated during the police search.
The hospital would not comment on Mr Sousley, as he is a patient, but said it’s against policy for people to smoke or vape on the premises. It’s also policy for staff to call police if they suspect illegal substance use.
Police also confirmed they received a call but nothing was found.
The department was flooded with comments on Facebook condemning the officers involved but Bolivar Police Chief Mark Webb said there are no plans for an internal investigation.
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