In 2014 I was held in a 5150 psychiatric hold against my will because I had a pot brownie in my purse when I went to a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Los Angeles. I had not consumed any cannabis that day, but had bought the brownie because I had severe pelvic pain which I would later find would be due to an ovarian cyst that had ruptured and almost 2 lbs of liquid in my abdomen. Listening to my body, I decided not to medicate and that I needed emergency care.

Sadly, once a nurse smelled an odor coming out of my bag, I was prevented from receiving any pain medication (incuding tylenol) for 17 hours until I “sobered up” and I psychiatrist could see me even though I was not on cannabis and was at an inhumane level of pain (10). Once the psychiatrist came, he obviously could tell I wasn’t high and was in pain, but sadly, he knew nothing about cannabis, and I spent the “consult,” which I was billed for, explaining to him what the difference between THC and CBD and the difference taking cannabis to get high and taking cannabis for acute or chronic pain. I was discharged after receiving appropriate care for my ob/gyn emergency 17 hours after being admitted, but alas, they had thrown out the pot brownie, and left me with a bill of bill totaling over $10,000.

All of this could have been avoided had someone just treated me with respect for being a cannabis patient.