Story Archive

What’s the Real Problem Here?

Angela Kastner hadn’t been drinking when she was busted for DUI. Nevertheless, she pleaded no contest since there was, in fact, THC in her system. But her pharmacist said it was not from pot and was not enough to get her high: it was from her Marinol, which lets her eat while on chemotherapy — Marinol is a federally approved prescription version of the active ingredient of marijuana. She was sentenced to two days in jail, and she said that would mean missing chemo. Kastner, a grandmother, is five years into her battle with cancer. A missed chemo session could set her back to the beginning of her chemotherapy regimen — and if chemo fails, it will be time for hospice. She hopes her story can protect other cancer patients from the criminal-justice system. But the Sedgwick County, Kan., Sheriff’s Office says it was Kastner who decided when to serve her sentence — and Col. Brenda Dietzman could not explain why Kastner didn’t ask to be taken to chemotherapy. “We routinely, on a daily basis, take inmates to dialysis and other medical procedures and appointments,” she said. (AC/KAKE Wichita) ...Dialysis is greater than jail, which is greater than going to chemotherapy when you’d rather be in a hospice.