A Sitting NY Supreme Court Judge With Cancer Makes A Plea For Medical Marijuana

[kpete]

A Sitting NY Supreme Court Judge With Cancer Makes A Plea For Medical Marijuana
By: TheCallUp Wednesday May 16, 2012 8:33 pm


After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, New York Supreme Court Justice Gustin L. Reichbach found himself immersed in a world of pain and misery, brought on by months of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

He’s spent 40 years in the law — over two decades as a judge — and thus never could have imagined that he would one day find himself turning to marijuana to quell his unbearable suffering, as he explains in his NY Times Op Ed:

Nausea and pain are constant companions. One struggles to eat enough to stave off the dramatic weight loss that is part of this disease. Eating, one of the great pleasures of life, has now become a daily battle, with each forkful a small victory. Every drug prescribed to treat one problem leads to one or two more drugs to offset its side effects. Pain medication leads to loss of appetite and constipation. Anti-nausea medication raises glucose levels, a serious problem for me with my pancreas so compromised. Sleep, which might bring respite from the miseries of the day, becomes increasingly elusive.

Inhaled marijuana is the only medicine that gives me some relief from nausea, stimulates my appetite, and makes it easier to fall asleep. The oral synthetic substitute, Marinol, prescribed by my doctors, was useless. Rather than watch the agony of my suffering, friends have chosen, at some personal risk, to provide the substance. I find a few puffs of marijuana before dinner gives me ammunition in the battle to eat. A few more puffs at bedtime permits desperately needed sleep.

This is not a law-and-order issue; it is a medical and a human rights issue. Being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, I am receiving the absolute gold standard of medical care. But doctors cannot be expected to do what the law prohibits, even when they know it is in the best interests of their patients. When palliative care is understood as a fundamental human and medical right, marijuana for medical use should be beyond controversy.

..............

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/opinion/a-judges-plea-for-medical-marijuana.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
via:
http://my.firedoglake.com/thecallup/2012/05/16/a-sitting-ny-supreme-court-judge-with-cancer-makes-a-plea-for-medical-marijuana/

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Turns out Reichbach is quite a guy.

In the late 1960s, as a student activist at then-turbulent Columbia University, the judge himself had come under FBI surveillance. He later obtained some of those records through a Freedom of Information request. In court, he read a portion in which a witness had reported to the agency that Reichbach was "one of the most dangerous" members of the Students for a Democratic Society, an "extraordinarily powerful speaker" with "strong, charismatic appeal."

[pacalo]

4. I agree, Jackpine!

Justice Reichbach, who was among the authors of a 1969 work, ''The Bust Book: What to Do Till the Lawyer Comes,'' said he always wanted to be a lawyer. He grew up in a working-class home. His father, a machinist, was a union organizer who the justice says was his greatest influence. ''He held intellectual left-wingers in contempt because he felt they were completely divorced from the reality of the working class,'' he said.

(. . .)

THE justice, who says he does not want those tried in his courtroom to be intimidated, works hard to dampen the severity of the court. He does not wear his robes until sentencing. He regularly overrules the district attorneys to give offenders another chance, and has frequently earned the ire of the Police Department, especially for refusing to sentence drug offenders if the undercover police officers who carried out the arrests refuse to testify.

Over the jury box, he has a picture of Paul Robeson, whose career was largely destroyed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, and on the wall over his bench, a scale of justice in red and blue neon lights. On the back wall, he has a picture of striking coal miners.
Justice Reichbach is best known for handing out condoms when, as a lawyer in private practice, he was first elected in 1991, and offering prostitutes and others free AIDS testing. He became known, ever after, as the condom judge.

''It is a sobriquet I wear with pride,'' he said, ''although it is not always meant as a compliment.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/01/nyregion/public-lives-a-judge-in-the-mold-of-hoffman-abbie-that-is.html?src=pm

[DiverDave]

3. I weep for him and others like him

struggling to just EAT?? The pharma companys and the prison guard unions have this mans (and 10's of 1000's of others) suffering on themselves.

The bastards that let people SUFFER are going to hell. ( I sincerely hope there is such a place)

I wonder what his stance was on MM before he was stricken?

A heartbreaking letter.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. "I wonder what his stance was on MM before he was stricken?"

Read some of the commentary above & take a guess.

[DiverDave]

10. Why do you have to do that?

Are you so rude that you HAVE to post things like that?

So I didnt investigate the guy before writing my -seemingly innocuous- question.

Sheesh, do you feel bigger, better now?

I'm put in my place now...thanks

[Uncle Joe]

12. I don't believe

Jackpine was trying to be rude, he was just bringing your attention to a post #4 which actually occurred after your post #3.

[intheflow]

14. Geesh, Dude. Lighten up.

There was nothing in jackpine's post that was rude. Take a breath and read what's written, not what you're projecting.

*Disclaimer: This post isn't meant to denigrate you, either. I'm just saying, DU is what you make it. Your reaction to the post was really an over-reaction and doesn't help the level of discourse on DU.

[Jackpine Radical]

16. Let me confirm that no disrespect was intended.

[DLevine]

6. K&R. n/t

[jumptheshadow]

7. We are going through it now

She's in chemo and has a hard time eating and keeping food down. When she was in radiation, she had a hard time swallowing. Her doctor told her, "We can give you medicine for the swallowing problem, but it tastes absolutely vile." Knowing how difficult it was to get even two spoonfuls of mashed potatoes down, she opted for MM instead. It resolved the swallowing issue.

MM curbs her nausea, enhances her appetite, helps her deal with her back pain and helps both of us stay in the moment -- which is where we want to be right now. It takes her mind off the intensity of her situation and enables her to relax with light entertainment.

I have always thought marijuana should be legalized, however, prior to my partner's illness, I thought MM was just a clever strategy for making it legal. I was totally wrong. It is enormously helpful when you are stricken with a debilitating disease. It is shameful that the Obama administration is trying to override state initiatives on MM. Here in NY, it is doubly shameful that the bill keeps on getting shuttled back to committee.

Sick people should be able to buy MM with a prescription and with guarantees that they are getting the pure stuff, and not street goods that could be contaminated with anything. It is inhumane to take any other stand.

[DearAbby]

9. We are too,

Husband has cancer, and it is legal here. But there has been recent raids on dispensaries, making it difficult.

[frylock]

8. lousy stoner

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[Dustlawyer]

13. I am an attorney with "small fiber sensory neuropathy" in Texas

My backwards state will pass med marijuana when hell freezes over. My immune system attacks the small nerve fibers causing constant pain which intensifies at night. At times my nerves signal my brain that my feet are on fire, crawling with ants, electrical shocks that come unexpectantly and very severe and a variety of other sensations. There is a treatment that is administered by IV and takes 20 minutes to do. You need 1 treatment a day for 4 days and then 1 every 2 months for life. It is around $15,000 per treatment. Insurance does not cover it so pot is the best alternative. I have had a battery with wires into my spinal cord to help with the pain, but nothing works like marijuana. This is ridiculous! They prescribe narcotics for this sometimes which are far more harmful and addictive, but no pot. Why can't we take our country back and start doing the logical things instead of all of the crooked, corrupt, political BS? Legalize pot and regulate it. Pot is easier for kids to get than alcohol so there is really nothing to lose but some profits for some already wealthy companies.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

15. So that there is less confusion, please know that a Supreme Court judge in NY is a trial judge.