STEVE KUBBY

'Steve Wynn Kubby' (born December 28 1946) is a Libertarian Party activist who played a key role in the drafting and passage of California Proposition 215. The proposition was a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana which was approved by voters in 1996. Kubby himself is well-known as a cancer patient who relies on medical cannabis. He has authored two books on drug policy reform: ''The Politics of Consciousness'',^[3] and ''Why Marijuana Should Be Legal''.^[4] He was the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of California in 1998 and has declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination.

Contents

Cancer patient

Libertarian Party candidate

Arrest and trial

Flight to Canada to Avoid Authorities

Departure from Canada and incarceration in the US

See also

External links

Notes

Cancer patient

In 1968, at the age of 23, he began experiencing symptoms of hypertension and palpitations. He was diagnosed with malignant pheochromocytoma, a rare, fatal form of adrenal cancer. Kubby underwent surgery to remove a tumor in 1968, 1975 and 1976. This last time, his medical records show that the cancer had metastasized to his liver and beyond. All other patients with this diagnosis have had a 100% mortality rate within five years. His physician, Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, a specialist from the USC School of Medicine, monitored his condition and treated him with conventional therapies, including chemotherapy, until referring him to the Mayo Clinic in 1981 for yet another surgery and radiation.
For the next 25 years, Kubby claimed to control the symptoms of his disease solely by smoking medical marijuana and by maintaining a healthy diet. His original doctor, an expert on this condition shocked to learn he was still alive, said, "In some amazing fashion, this medication has not only controlled the symptoms of the pheochromocytoma, but in my view, has arrested its growth."^[5]
In 1996, Kubby was instrumental in the drafting and passage of California Proposition 215, ''The Compassionate Use Act of 1996''. [[5]]

Libertarian Party candidate

In 1998, Kubby was the Libertarian candidate for Governor of California and became national director of the American Medical Marijuana Association. Two months after the election, Kubby's home was raided by the Placer County sheriffs department. The officers seized 265 marijuana plants and a small quantity of peyote, and Kubby was arrested.
Kubby was a contender to be the Libertarian Party's Vice Presidential candidate in the 2000 election. The Libertarian Party requires the Vice Presidential candidate to be nominated by the delegates just as the Presidential candidate is selected. Kubby was opposed by fellow Californian Art Olivier, and by Ken Krawchuk of Pennsylvania. After no candidate received a majority on the first ballot, Krawchuk withdrew his name from the ballot and endorsed Olivier, who then defeated Kubby by a vote of 418 to 338.
On August 20, 2006, at the Seattle Hempfest, Kubby announced his intention to seek the Libertarian Party's nomination for President in 2008.^[6] The Federal Election Committee (FEC) issued candidate ID numbers for Steve Kubby personally and for the Kubby for President Committee on September 18, 2006.^[7] He has since campaigned at various community and Libertarian Party events and launched a campaign web site.

Arrest and trial

The Placer County Sheriff's Department had been sent an anonymous letter alleging that the Kubby's had been operating a major grow operation from their residence, and began an investigation. Kubby learned of this, and invited them to inspect the grow room, by claiming to have passed a note through his own household trash, which the police had begun searching.
In 1999, Kubby and his wife Michele were arrested and faced trial for growing his own cannabis in his home, though he was entitled to do so legally on behalf of himself and his wife, also a licensed cannabis patient. Calling his arrest the "Scopes monkey trial of medical marijuana," Kubby remained defiant in his support of the Compassionate Use Act. He maintains that the prosecution was politically motivated, implicating then-Attorney General Dan Lungren's office.^[8] Lungren had been aggressive in resisting the implementation of Proposition 215,^[9] to the point of issuing instructions to peace officers on how to cross-examine cannabis patients so as to undermine their claim of sanction.^[10] In this time, the legal status of medical marijuana growers was unclear.
In jail for 72 hours after the arrest, Steve Kubby was deprived of medical marijuana and became seriously ill. His blood pressure shot up to dangerous levels. USC Medical Center's Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, who made Kubby's original diagnosis, wrote a letter to the court explaining Steve's condition and warning the judge what could happen if Steve was further deprived of cannabis.
Kubby described their ordeal in his official complaint,
Although the above cite claims Kubby was tormented by his jailers, he himself wrote a letter to them after his release thanking them for their professional treatment while he was incarcerated.
Michele Kubby won an acquittal on all charges. Steve Kubby's trial, owing to one juror's refusal to acquit, received a mistrial on all the cannabis charges, which were eventually dropped. The jury also voted to convict on a possession charge involving a psilocybin mushroom stem and a few peyote buttons (a felony)found in their house. Kubby was sentenced to 120 days in jail.

Flight to Canada to Avoid Authorities

In 2001, facing the conviction for peyote possession, and the possibility of incarceration without access to cannabis, Kubby obtained the court's permission to move to Canada with his wife and two children. However, once they arrived, the terms of his probation were changed without his knowledge or consent, making him a fugitive.^[11]
Kubby appealed his fugitive status, through the Canadian legal system for five years. Among the arguments made in fighting the appeal was the likelihood that he would be denied access to cannabis in custody and risk death from his illness. This fear was later proved to be unfounded as he survived his eventual incarceration without any serious side effects.
Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in the area of adrenal cancers, testified at the Canadian extradition hearing about Mr. Kubby's medical condition:

Departure from Canada and incarceration in the US

After numerous appeals, Kubby was asked to leave Canada under a "conditional Departure Order"^[12] within 30 days, which he did. He arrived in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, January 26 2006, accompanied by his attorney Bill McPike, and was immediately arrested.^[13] Although it had been arranged that Kubby would surrender at the Placer Superior Court on Tuesday, 31 January, he was removed from the Alaska Airlines jet on arrival by San Francisco police officers at the request of sheriff's officials in Placer County and taken through secure areas of the airport, bypassing the supporters gathered to greet him.
He was held in San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City, where, according to NORML spokesman Dale Gieringer, he was becoming rapidly ill. He was transported to Placer County Jail Friday afternoon and was arraigned at 1 p.m. in Dept. 13 of Placer County Superior court Tuesday, 31 January. Gieringer reports that Placer County Jail has granted Kubby access to Marinol, a THC synthetic which lacks the cannabinoids which have been shown to modulate catecholamine levels. Michele Kubby reports that the Marinol is helping, but that her husband can tell subjectively that it will not be effective in the long run.
She also describes her husband's conditions of confinement,
In January, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting Kubby and calling for his immediate release from jail.^[14] On March 6, 2006, Kubby was released early from jail for good behavior. At a March 14 hearing, he was re-sentenced to another 60 days in jail for violating his probation by not returning from Canada in 2001, and began serving the sentence on Wednesday, March 15.^[15] Kubby was released on April 5 after serving only 22 days of the 60-day sentence, his time reduced because of jail overcrowding.

See also

★ Medical marijuana

★ War on Drugs

★ Proposition 215

★ ''Gonzales v. Raich''

★ Health issues and the effects of cannabis

★ Cannabis legalization in Canada

★ Ed Rosenthal

★ The Spliff Committee

★ Peter McWilliams

★ Libertarian Party

External links

★ Personal/Family Web Site

★ Presidential Campaign Web Site

★ American Medical Marijuana Association website

★ Background and description of Kubby's medical circumstances

★ Editorial: Steve Kubby IS a Refugee

★ Kubby's Canadian extradition decision

★ KTVU News coverage of Kubby's arrival at SFO

★ Sacramento Bee coverage of Kubby's arrest

★ Long Los Angeles Times article on 2006 arrest, incarceration.

★ Compilation of reports on 2006 arrest, incarceration.

★ Marinol: The Little Synthetic That Couldn't

★

★ 2006 Steve Kubby interviews in jail. Details medical neglect, dangers.

★ Photo gallery for 31 January 2006 court rally, also contains many links/

★ MP3 Interview with Steve Kubby’s wife January 14, 2006

★ [6] Stop drugs, True information]

★ [7] Marijuana is not medicine]

Notes

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. [4]
5. http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=1804]
6. http://www.lp.org/fp/article_391.shtml
7. http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?P00004671
8. http://www.kubby.com/Placer/AttorneyGeneralComplaint.html
9. http://www.ccrmg.org/journal/04aut/mccartney.html
10. http://www.drugsense.org/CCUA/970224_lungren_peace_officer_guide.pdf
11. http://kubby.com/Placer/compform2.html
12. http://kubby.com/PRRAOnline/DepartureOrderSteve.pdf
13. http://www.ktvu.com/video/6484694/detail.html
14. http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v06/n295/a09.htm
15. http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=16466