Cameron Douglas is currently serving five years behind bars for drug distribution and heroin possession and last year (11) he was handed an additional four-and-a-half-month jail term after he was caught with heroin and Suboxone, a prescription medication used to dull the effects of opioid withdrawal, in jail.
Douglas and his legal team subsequently lodged an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, claiming his punishment was “shockingly long”, and earlier this month (May12) a handful of doctors gave the 33 year old’s case a boost by filing a supporting brief, insisting drug addiction is best treated with therapy, not prison time.
The group aims to help reduce or dismiss Douglas’ 54-month sentence and push the corrections system into reiterating its stance on helping inmates with addiction, with Dr. Robert Newman writing, “My outrage is as a physician for someone who has a medical condition which has been ignored. What the judge has imposed has zero benefits for the community and has staggering consequences for society.”
Michael Douglas and his lawyer, Nicholas M. De Feis, have been floored by the support of the top doctors.
De Feis tells The New York Times he and his client are “gratified that such a distinguished group of practitioners and experts have taken an interest in the case.”
