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?

Valva case settlement ... Knicks championship trophy on display ... Out East: Dining al fresco Credit: Newsday

New plans to test groundwater around lithium battery plant ... Valva case settlement ... NYC to Montauk train permanent ... Homelessness on the rise

Valva case settlement ... Knicks championship trophy on display ... Out East: Dining al fresco Credit: Newsday

New plans to test groundwater around lithium battery plant ... Valva case settlement ... NYC to Montauk train permanent ... Homelessness on the rise

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