A man with multiple sclerosis who was sentenced to prison...

A man with multiple sclerosis who was sentenced to prison for growing 17 marijuana plants at his central New Jersey home is now a free man. (March 28. 2011) Credit: AP

A cancer-stricken judge in New York has become an unlikely voice supporting the legalization of medical marijuana with the admission that he smokes pot to ease the side effects of his treatments.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach, who is being treated for pancreatic cancer, wrote in a New York Times article Thursday that he had been using marijuana provided by friends at "great personal risk" to help him cope with the nausea, sleeplessness and loss of appetite from chemotherapy treatments.

Should medical marijuana be legalized in New York?

Weekend weather forecast ... New Bridgehampton Target ... Battery plant safety concerns Credit: Newsday

Suffolk biggest water consumers ... Latest on ICE shooting in NYC ... Top 50 LI restaurants ... Weekend weather forecast

Weekend weather forecast ... New Bridgehampton Target ... Battery plant safety concerns Credit: Newsday

Suffolk biggest water consumers ... Latest on ICE shooting in NYC ... Top 50 LI restaurants ... Weekend weather forecast

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