![]() In early morning sessions, he underwent six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy, shrinking the tumor to the size of a pea.ĭuring treatment, Raskin knocked on the doors of constituents and made a point of walking the more than one-mile route of Takoma Park’s July Fourth parade. After a week of “fear, uncertainty and drowning in self-pity,” Raskin said he moved quickly to find treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The tumor was discovered after a colonoscopy last May that Raskin’s gastroenterologist recommended as part of an exam related to his acid reflux. Instead he faced what he called “an internal opponent” or “foreign invader.” Last fall, Raskin had no Democratic primary challenger or general election opponent. Four years ago, the political novice defied the odds, defeating a longtime incumbent with an energetic network of volunteers. Raskin’s own 2010 reelection campaign posed a far different challenge than his first contest. The bill did not come up for a vote in the House in part because of concerns among leaders about the political implications in an election year. Brinkley of Frederick, a two-time cancer survivor, to successfully shepherd the measure through the Senate with bipartisan support. Last session, Raskin joined with Republican Sen. Raskin (D) will be one of the leading voices on several issues during the legislative session, but when he speaks about medical marijuana he will add a compelling personal story to the debate over whether Maryland should join more than a dozen other states and the District in legalizing the drug for medical use. “I know what it means for people to be living on the absolute edge of hope and despair, and politicians should not get in the way of people getting the medical relief they need.” “Public health is now personal for me,” Raskin said. Now a disease that Raskin, 48, largely kept under the radar during his successful reelection campaign last fall becomes very public when he returns to Annapolis for the General Assembly session that begins on Wednesday. Raskin would learn four days later he had cancer. The doctor told him that he had a “worrisome” mass the size of a golf ball in his colon. ![]() Raskin of Montgomery County, found himself in a doctor’s office with a new perspective on the issue. In the weeks after a bill to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland failed last spring, the state senator who championed the legislation, Jamie B.
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