08/29/2026
Ryan Bartell knew he was dying.
He had weeks left. And he wanted one very simple thing: to be awake for them.
Stage-four pancreatic cancer. He had only weeks left.
Ryan was a Coast Guard veteran, a husband, and a father. And as his cancer progressed, so did the pain. His doctors eventually treated him with powerful opioids, including fentanyl.
The medicine helped with the pain.
But Ryan was sleeping through what little time he had left.
During one of the periods when he was awake, Ryan told his father something simple: he didn't want to spend his final weeks asleep. He wanted to be awake with his wife. With his son. With his family and friends.
His family wanted to try medical cannabis instead. But the hospital where Ryan was being treated wouldn't allow cannabis on its premises.
So they found one that would.
Ryan was transferred. By then he couldn't swallow, so he used a cannabis spray under his tongue. According to his father, the difference was remarkable.
Ryan was awake.
He could talk. He could visit with the people he loved. He could be present for the little bit of life he still had.
Ryan spent his final two and a half weeks that way.
He died on April 21, 2018, just seven weeks after his diagnosis.
His father, Jim, decided that no other family should have to move a dying loved one to another hospital just to give them that choice. He has inspired six states to adopt laws allowing terminally-ill patients to use medical cannabis at care facilities. Self-adminstered, no smoking; just a medication taken internally that provides compassionate relief without robbing people of their last remaining days.
Of course, when Washington state proposed the law, Joel McEntire had to be one of the only people to vote against it.
Thankfully, it passed with strong bipartisan support.
But one has to question why a representative would vote against such a simple, compassionate thing.
