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Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit

By Jeralyn, Section Judiciary
Posted on Sat Sep 10, 2005 at 05:38:08 PM EST
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So, it turns out that while thousands of people languish in our jails for abusing prescription drugs, the late Chief Justice Rehnquist had a habit of his own: Placidyl. I thought they stopped making the drug when they stopped making Quaaludes - they were very similar. I never knew anyone who took it for pain, only to party. Guess I was wrong.

And for the nine years between 1972 and the end of 1981, William Rehnquist consumed great quantities of the potent sedative-hypnotic Placidyl. So great was Rehnquist's Placidyl habit, dependency, or addiction—depending on how you regard long-term drug use—that by the last quarter of 1981 he began slurring his speech in public, became tongue-tied while pronouncing long words, and sometimes had trouble finishing his thoughts.

....The standard dose for adults is 500 milligrams, taken at bedtime. Rehnquist initially took 200 milligrams daily but by 1981 was taking 1,500 milligrams a day.

But he sat on the bench, and affirmed drug sentence after drug sentence. Nice. Here's more on Rehnquist's Placidyl dependency:

According to a Jan. 4, 1982, New York Times account, Rehnquist sought help with the drug in December 1981 because it no longer relieved his pain. He entered George Washington University Hospital on Dec. 27. According to the physician spokesman for the hospital he suffered "disturbances in mental clarity, characterized by distorted perceptions," as doctors weaned him off the drug. The spokesman added that after his Placidyl was cut off, Rehnquist began ''hearing things and seeing things that other people did not hear and see.'' The doctors took his dose back up before re-weaning him. By mid-January, Rehnquist returned to the bench.

....When Rehnquist's drug problem became an issue during the 1986 confirmation hearings, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, defended Rehnquist in a Post story, saying he got into trouble with Placidyl because he was "a very compliant patient" who "followed the advice" of his doctors. Ah, yes, one of the most brilliant jurists of his time was the victim of his rotten doctors for almost a decade.

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    Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit | 27 comments (27 topical)
    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:37 PM EST
    Yet another perveyor of the do as I say, not as I do philosophy. I don't think I could hate the rightwing power establishment in this country any more even if you paid me. Repeat after me kiddies: It's OK if you're a Republican.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#2)
    by Joe Bob on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:37 PM EST
    Nice. So popping 'ludes for the better part of a decade is just fine. But then if you grow some medical marijuana it's A-OK for the DEA to bust down your door.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:37 PM EST
    I doubt that his use was recreational. It's sad that Republicans have so much trouble seeking appropriate psychiatric treatment, and so often end up self-medicating their suffering with addictive drugs of abuse.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    punisher posted- I doubt that his use was recreational. ...better known as distinction without merit. So if his use of the drug was recreational could it still be legal?

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    Legal is whatever Rehnquist said is legal.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    As much as I disliked Rehnquist...does this really matter? The guy is dead. Why do we need to drag his name through the mudd?

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#7)
    by aw on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    I'll repeat it. It's okay if you're a Republican. If you're not, you're a dope addict and belong in jail.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#8)
    by aw on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    Oh, yeah. We paid for his treatment.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    Suddenly, his addled and outrageously attenuated reasoning in cases from these years makes sense. Dave: please tell me you're joking. A chief justice is a drug addict for years and years, hands down draconian precedents re drug laws, and we're NOT supposed to dig this man up and force him to answer some mighty big questions? I don't think so! Time to revisit those questionable decisions. No time like the present!

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#10)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    It wouldn't deserve to be news if it was a hollywood star or a musician, but they'd still print it. It IS news that a judge was an addict while on the bench for nine years.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    Hypocritcal motherf$#@#! May he rot in hell for his dedication to destroying our american way of life.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    They stopped making quaaludes? /I am soo square....

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#13)
    by desertswine on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:38 PM EST
    I hate that guy with the finger to the left of me.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#14)
    by SeeEmDee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:39 PM EST
    This is on par with Harry J. Anslinger (father of American cannabis prohibition) purportedly secretly providing morphine addict Senator Joseph McCarthy with his fix; the excuse from Anslinger was that McCarthy was a 'great American'. Hypocrisy knows no generational barriers...

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#15)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:39 PM EST
    “But then if you grow some medical marijuana it's A-OK for the DEA to bust down your door.”
    Rehnquist dissented in Raich v Gonzales. I hate to stray from the empty-headed Rehnquist b!tchfest; but Justice Rehnquist actively sought to curtail the scope of the commerce clause, the clause the federal government uses to empower the DEA. Is it lost on you folks that Ginsberg and Breyer concurred with the majority in Raich?

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:39 PM EST
    Pigwig writes:
    Justice Rehnquist actively sought to curtail the scope of the commerce clause, the clause the federal government uses to empower the DEA.
    According to Justice Stevens writing for the majority, Gonzoles AG vs Raich, the majority on the court was sympthetic to the Californians who were using cannabis for appropriate medical purposes, BUT:
    The case is made difficult by respondents’ strong arguments that they will suffer irreparable harm because, despite a congressional finding to the contrary, marijuana does have valid therapeutic purposes.
    But that wasn't the question that was brought before the court:
    The question before us, however, is not whether it is wise to enforce the statute in these circumstances; rather, it is whether Congress’ power to regulate interstate markets for medicinal substances encompasses the portions of those markets that are supplied with drugs produced and consumed locally. Well-settled law controls our answer. The CSA is a valid exercise of federal power, even as applied to the troubling facts of this case. We accordingly vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
    So Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas were trying to be activist judges and overturn congressional powers. Pigwig writes:
    Is it lost on you folks that Ginsberg and Breyer concurred with the majority in Raich?
    Is it lost on you that Ginsberg and Breyer demonstrate once again that it isn't the liberals on the court who legislate from the bench? Is it lost on you, only weeks after federal agencies FEMA and DHS acted with a devastating sluggish powerlessness and disorganization that the desire to vacate federal powers and responsibilities is a deeply Republican impulse?

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#17)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:39 PM EST
    “So Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas were trying to be activist judges and overturn congressional powers.”
    Actually, Scalia concurred in the judgment; the decision was 6-3. Anyway, if correcting previous Supreme Court cockups is activist, by all means. This thread is about Justice Rehnquist’s drug use, and the (implied) hypocrisy. But since you raised the point; the majority cited Wickard, as providing for regulation of any intrastate activity for which a national market exists, illicit or not. This is a not an arbitrary extension of Wickard and sets a terrible precedent. Your humble vegetable garden is now under the purview of congress.
    “Is it lost on you that Ginsberg and Breyer demonstrate once again that it isn't the liberals on the court who legislate from the bench?”
    Placing reasonable boundaries on Congresse's ability to regulate activities under the commerce clause is hardly ‘legislating from the bench’; it is the duty of the Supreme Court.
    “Is it lost on you, only weeks after federal agencies FEMA and DHS acted with a devastating sluggish powerlessness and disorganization that the desire to vacate federal powers and responsibilities is a deeply Republican impulse?”
    I’m not sure what you are driving at. Pruning government is hardly a Republican impulse. Like intelligence reform after recent high profile failures, look for congress in a fit of bipartisan backslapping to coat an already lethargic bureaucracy with several more layers. And of course, bring home the bacon.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:39 PM EST
    pigwiggle: This thread is about Justice Rehnquist’s drug use, and the (implied) hypocrisy... Good point pigwiggle. We shouldn't get distracted from that.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    Posted by Dave: "Why do we need to drag his name through the mudd?" The Mudd controversy went on for DECADES. And it appears, yeah, he was a conspirator. pigwiggle: "our humble vegetable garden is now under the purview of congress." Actually, DEA is part of the Executive, as you probably know. If the Executive disagreed with the Congress, it would simply change its enforcement policies. But it won't do that, because the drug war is in fact political (class) repression. And everybody knows it. Chief Justice Rehnquist was a using addict. In fairness, he should have put some more stripes on his sleeve -- and some on his pants as well.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#20)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    "Chief Justice Rehnquist served this country with the greatest distinction, and I respected his leadership of the federal judiciary and his strong commitment to the integrity and independence of the courts.”
    —Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    And required very large doses of barbiturates to avoid withdrawal and hallucinatory delirium.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#22)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    Rehnquist was cast by liberal Democratic senators, such as Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, as a nominee who would narrowly interpret civil rights for racial minorities. Through the years, Rehnquist generally fulfilled that prediction. In cases involving affirmative action and congressional voting districts drawn to boost the power of blacks and Hispanics, for example, he voted to limit the reach of civil rights laws and the constitutional guarantee of equality. Sen. Edward Kennedy denounced Rehnquist as having an "appalling record on race," and liberal columnists branded him a right-wing extremist.
    Given that Kennedy had very different views than Rehnquist and vigorously opposed his nomination the quote you posted above only shows that Ted Kennedy is a compassionate man, perhaps reflecting some of your own sentiments and values stated here
    I just want you to picture how you would feel memorializing your dead family, friends, or colleagues
    There are events and positions that can bring all of us together, even those who strongly disagree on most things. As Rehnquist was not my colleague and I only know him by his decisions I have no sympathy and am glad he is gone.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#23)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    pw-the above comment is in response to you.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    Squeaky: the quote you [PW] posted above only shows that Ted Kennedy is a compassionate man... That's about right. I don't suspect that it was PW's intention to demonstrate that Senator Kennedy has heart, but that's all he's done here.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#25)
    by Rational on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:40 PM EST
    Would this information be suffiecient for anyone to go back and challenge any of the past rulings on the grounds that rehnquest was non compis mentis as a result of his drug addiction?

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:41 PM EST
    Posted by pigwiggle: "—Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)" Oh my God! You mean a SENATOR didn't jump up and down on his grave screaming obscenities? What will the world come to. Thanks, awfully, pig, for bringing this DASTARDLY quote to our attention. Next you'll be telling us that Kennedy was seen KISSING BABIES he doesn't even know.

    Re: Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:41 PM EST
    rational, he may have been non compos mentis THEN, but for sure he's compos now.

    Chief Justice Rehnquist's Drug Habit | 27 comments (27 topical)