***

Written for the web by Elizabeth Bishop, Internet News Producer

February 3, 2006

Medical marijuana crusader and former gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby is not pressing his request to use marijuana for medicinal reasons in jail.

At a hearing to consider his request, his attorneys took the request to have marijuana put in his food off the table for now. Kubby claims the marijuana relieves symptoms of a rare type of cancer and claims he will suffer and die without it in jail. Now he says he is taking the drug Marinol and says that is working satisfactorily.

Kubby was arrested for possession of the hallucinogen mescaline and psychedelic mushroom. He was sentenced in 2001 but fled to Canada where he sought refugee status, claiming he was persecuted for his advocacy of medical marijuana use. A Canadian court ordered him returned to the U.S. last month.

Prosecutors and Kubby's attorneys are reportedly trying to work out a plea agreement that will allow Kubby to serve his sentence at home.

Copyright: 2006 KXTV, Inc.

I added the Hippie Museum to my page below.

http://stewa.blogspot.com/

I had to smile and wonder about how he sort of "invented" "The way in is the way out."? I might disagree with him on that...unless he posts regularly here under another well known name.

"The way in is the way out."

:0)

http://www.terryhubbard.com/J/

What: Excerpts of three phone calls from Steve Kubby in Placer County Jail

to journalist Patrick McCartney, (530) 823-3040.

Contact: Attorney Bill McPike (559) 841-3366, or (559) 618-0656, cell.

Release date: February 2, 2006

Pat's note: With Michele Kubby still in transit from British Columbia, she has been unable to speak with her husband and share his views with the public. Steve Kubby has phoned me daily during his stay at the jail and asked me to relay his comments to the outside world. His mood has varied during the calls, as the symptoms of his rare medical condition flare and subside. Below are excerpts from the three most recent conversations. Contact me or check DPFCA archives for transcriptions of the first two phone calls. Incidentally, I am the former city editor of the Auburn Journal, and have followed the plight of the Kubbys since their Jan. 19,, 1999, arrest.

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006, 11 p.m.

On his medical care:

"Your calls have worked! The Placer County Jail and medical staff are now taking my health seriously, and showing me respect. The police and government are not our enemy. Our real enemy is ignorance. This situation with me and Placer County is providing an opportunity to educate people and defeat our real enemy - ignorance."

"Now I want to give you a medical report. Today they tested me and confirmed that there was blood in my urine, but the blood appears to be diminishing each day. My blood pressures are high, but not at the dangerous level, not at a level that I feel that I'm in a life-threatening situation. So I'm getting enough benefit from the Marinol so that, despite my being very uncomfortable at times, I'm not experiencing 250 over 220 attacks like I had on Friday prior to me taking Marinol. Š Since then my b-p readings have been approximately like 130 over 110. But you see, it goes all over the place; it could mean anything. They take it for a couple of days and it's completely meaningless. Unless they've got me on a 24-hour monitor, they're never going to pick up the blood-pressure spikes I have throughout the day. I have a good feeling about the jail staff that I see, and the medical staff that I'm working at, but it's disturbing to have them issue press releases saying that I'm just fine. How do they expect to be credible with that?"

On the press coverage he's seen:

"I would appreciate it if the media would stop making fraudulent, uninformed statements such as the following: 1) That I fled to Canada. This is completely untrue; I had the court's permission to go to Canada. 2) They said in the paper that I'm doing interviews with the media, and that's baloney. I haven't talked to any media. I've been too sick! And that's the other thing. I am sick! And I would just hope they would acknowledge that and stop ignoring that. And 3) I think it's reckless and irresponsible for someone who has never examined me, and who is largely ignorant of the recent advances in science regarding cannabis research, to make statements that are unsupported and endanger me, and contribute to this lie that marijuana has no medical benefit. Dr. Ethan Russo has provided this doctor with substantial, medical, peer-reviewed research, and the newspaper should go back and talk to him now that he's read the research."

On the chance that Placer might pursue a felony sentence:

"People need to understand that the real problem is the Placer District Attorney's office's failure to recognize my due process. I've got a felony, yeah. When was my chance to appeal this? Ever? If he wants to kill me, this is the best way to go about it. He wants to convict me of felony conviction of the cactus, he wants to turn my two misdemeanors into a misdemeanor and a felony, and send me to state prison for four more for the felony - all this performed nicely after deadlines, without legal support, and by [three recused judges.] Š This is a huge threat to me."

On Friday's motion to obtain whole, edible cannabis in jail:

"What do I think the best answer is for all of this? It may be that we will force the courts under a writ of mandamus to uphold the law as it is written, that I am entitled to marijuana in jail. And if they want to play games with me, fine. At least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that hundreds of thousands of prisoners, who deserve their medical-marijuana rights to be upheld, will be upheld once we establish this important precedent. So, they may succeed in killing me, but they're going to have to deal with medical marijuana statewide in all the jails before they're successful. Š"

"Irrespective of whether they're coming after me, and I'm sure they are, I want you to explain that, if they're going to insist on keeping me here in jail until February [15 trial], then we are going to force them to uphold my legal right to cannabis in jail, not just for me - well initially for me - but we intend to open it up for every medical-marijuana patient who's behind bars. Š I think this is the biggest fear that they have, and this is the one we have to plan. Because according to McPike, we can get a writ of mandamus from the court saying that's the law dudes; you gotta do it. And they can't say no smoking because I'm not asking to smoke; I'm going to get edibles."

The role that activists played:

"I want everyone to know that I'm alive today because of their calls. Obviously, I was not being taken seriously at first. But I am now! They used to make me sir them on everything. They told me, stop calling us sir. Now they're calling me sir. Mr. Kubby. Sir, we have this or that request for you. They're handling me with such kid gloves. So, please, thank my supporters and tell them how grateful I am that I'm still alive."

Phone call ends.

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006, 11 a.m.

McCartney note: Kubby was more agitated during this call, describing several political strategies he was considering. After reflection and after hearing about attorney Bill McPike's comments, he asked me the next day to withhold portions of his comments.

On his medical care:

"First a medical report. Doctors are concerned about the blood that I'm passing. I've received a number of urine and blood tests to find out what's going on. But they're on it, they're on it big-time. The doctor that's the head of the staff here, Dr. David Duncan, is a very qualified, very concerned physician, and I'm definitely in good care with him and the rest of the medical staff. [PM: When was the first time you saw a physician?] That's the problem. They checked me in on Friday, and I had just had one of the worst blood-pressure attacks of my life, which is what probably started the bleeding in my urine from the kidneys. I come in there. I'm one-seventy over one-twenty, I've got chest pains for the first time in my life, scared silly to be honest with you, and I'm pissing blood. And I don't get any medical care until Monday, I don't see anyone until Monday. Well, that was bad. But once they found out what was going on, they were all over me, doing everything they could do to help me. These are actually very dedicated, very qualified people. The jail people are really treating me well."

Phone call ends.

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006, 2 p.m.

McCartney note: Steve sounds as well as he has at any time since arriving in Placer County. He again takes the time to praise the medical staff, and discusses Friday's hearing. Most of the conversation involves Steve asking for information from the outside world, as his isolation continues.

On having second thoughts about a discarded political strategy:

"I've had a bit of an epiphany. What I realized, and I said before, police and government aren't the enemy. What I realized from that is that, I'm in a position like Ghandi getting hit by the stick by the police, as soon as I hit back in any way, as soon as I'm perceived as striking back in any way, I lose the support and sympathy of people."

On the Placer jail medical staff:

"The first thing I want to say is that it's unfortunate I got off to a bad, that things went down the way they did when I first arrived here. I did have every reason to believe that I was being mistreated, but what I now know is that none of that was intentional. It's just a matter of the medical staff being saddled with an incredible number of rules and regulations. And what I've learned is the medical staff here is world-class. The head nurse is ten years out of Stanford hospital. I explained to the medical director, Dr. David Duncan, that the University of California at Irvine has showed conclusively that cannabis affects the production of dopamine, and then he finished my sentence by saying, quote, 'and dopamine is the precursor to catecholamines.' He said, 'That makes sense to me.' His willingness to understand the unique effect that cannabis has on me has been a tremendous benefit in dealing with my health issues."

On the need for more calls:

"I'm asking my supporters to stop calling to complain about my treatment in jail, or with the medical staff, because now that they understand my situation, they are doing everything within their power to help me and protect me. I've actually met a number of guards here who impressed me with their professionalism and genuine concern for my welfare."

Expectations for Friday:

"I'm hoping that this rather unpleasant experience of mine will at least provide an opportunity to gain recognition for the use of nonsmoked, edible cannabis for bona-fide patients.

On the status of his health:

"The swelling and agonizing pain of my kidneys is finally, finally letting up, and I'm not passing any more blood. So, that alone is enough to make me feel a lot better. It's very disconcerting to see blood coming out your urine. Pink on few occasions, red on a few occasions."

On Tuesday's hearing:

"You're not allowed to communicate in any way, shape or form. And I wanted people to understand that I'm not allowed to communicate with the audience in the court, 'in any way, shape or form.'"

On inmate support:

"I'm constantly finding secret messages and things like, 'good luck,' and 'we're for you.' The inmates know who I am. They're very, very supportive. [He declines to describe how the messages are conveyed.] I don't want to get anyone in trouble. They're letting me know, and they're taking somewhat of a risk in letting me know."

How Marinol is helping:

"The Marinol does not provide the level of protection that I receive from cannabis, but it provides enough protection so that I have not had any more full-blown, hypertensive paroxysms."

Why the phone calls come at different hours:

"They start releasing guys [for their one hour a day out of their cells] at one end or the other end, and they seem to alternate, and it's completely dependant upon the scheduling. So, mine might be the first thing in the morning, I might be in the middle of the day, it might be the end of the day."

Why he didn't flee Canada for a third country:

"When it first became apparent to me that I would have to leave [Canada] and go somewhere, we had invitations from all these different places in the world and some of them were quite lovely, but it came to me that the best path for me - I had a little slogan I invented, 'the way in is the way out.' So, it became clear to me that the best way for me to heal all of this, and to deal with all of this, and most importantly to educate a lot of people about all of this, is to go back, turn myself in and face whatever was waiting for me."

Michele's view of Steve's decision:

No, WE say enough is enough!

Steve Kubby did not rape, steal from, or harm anyone. So, why the 120 day sentence? Your editorial says "drug charges". What was involved with these "drug charges"? Two things: 1. Felony possession of mescaline 2. A psychedelic mushroom. ONE. You'll note that Marijuana is not in the list. The jury acquitted Steve because he was within California LAW to grow the plants he had in his home under Proposition 215.

The one mushroom was actually a fragment and the Placer County judge dropped the charge to a misdemeanor because of the embarrassingly small quantity.

That leaves us with the "Felony possession of mescaline". The court reasoned that since the conviction was for possession of mescaline not possession of peyote, it should be a felony because the court said that mescaline is much more dangerous than peyote. The mescaline had been extracted from the cactus buttons by an expert for the prosecution. Can you say "manufactured evidence"? Will the perpetrator who manufactured the mescaline be up on charges, too? I doubt it... I hope I never get caught with a few dozen poppy seed bagels in Placer County, because I could get a felony conviction for heroin under these terms!

What a travesty! Steve Kubby is not a dangerous man, except to overzealous prosecutor Chris Cattran and the drug enforcement police who turned his life upside down. There would be no "circus" as you call it, right now were justice allowed to prevail.

Steve left California for British Columbia because he wanted to be LEFT ALONE to live his life with his wife and 2 young daughters in peace. Your charges of his self-promotion are baseless. This is a man trying to save his life.

In our current American society, how could you possibly criticize self-promotion as a sin, anyway? We're one of the most narcissistic human societies ever to walk the Earth! Look at Oprah Magazine - she's on the cover EVERY MONTH! The hypocrisy of the media outlet criticizing Steve for self-promotion is astonishing. What else would the junk media do if it wasn't for self promotion? They don't have the skill or ability to write about anything useful.

Look at our leaders - they're all empty shells of nothing BUT self-promotion. Bush was appointed president by the media 18 months before the 2000 election because he had the most money built up for...you guessed it, self promotion! And guess where the $250 million of self-promoting dollars went....to the media! every penny.

If anyone's guilty of self-promotion, it's the DA, for going after Kubby for trivial drug violations. Clearly the best thing to do to avoid publicity for Kubby would've been to treat him like anyone else 5 years ago, just another medical MJ patient. The government made the choice to have some guy hide out in the woods & look into Steve's window with a telescope. The government made the choice to ignore the law and raid and loot his house for LEGAL medical MJ. The government made the choice to jail him for tiny amounts of "drugs" (actually plant matter).

No you don't, or you wouldn't be saying what you're saying. What part of "he will die" do you not get? Kubby will die if he doesn't get his medicine, and that's why he fled---to stay alive and not be killed at the hands of the state. You're advocating that this man with a wife and two kids just go ahead and suffer and die. That's disgusting, your editorial is disgusting and you're disgusting.

There would be no circus if it wasn't for Chris Cattran and all of the other clowns working for Placer county California.

***

By Kara Fox

February 1, 2006

Medical marijuana activist and former Squaw Valley resident Steve Kubby is back in Placer County to serve a 120-day jail sentence for a drug conviction in 2000, after Canada denied his family protection and ordered them out of the country.

Kubby, 59, is scheduled to appear in Placer County Superior Court Friday in Auburn, capping off a whirlwind week of deportation, arrest, protests, an arraignment and pleas for his life.

Last Thursday, Kubby was taken into custody by San Francisco police when his plane from Vancouver landed at San Francisco International Airport. He was booked at the San Mateo County Jail and was transported to Placer County Jail Friday, where he began his sentence.

On Tuesday, Kubby pleaded innocent on a charge of violation of probation.

Placer County deputies raided Steve and Michele Kubby's Sandy Way home in Squaw Valley in 1999 and found 265 marijuana plants, peyote buttons and a hallucinogenic mushroom. Kubby contended he needed the cannabis to keep adrenal cancer in remission.

In 2000, a jury voted 11-1 for acquittal of possession of marijuana for sale charges, but convicted him on felony drug possession of psilocybin and mescaline. In 2001, he was granted electronic monitoring at home, but instead fled to Canada.

He and his wife, along with their two children, were seeking asylum in Canada, but the Canadian Border Services Agency turned down their request in December stating that it was not a "risk to life" if they returned to the U.S.

As of Wednesday, Michele Kubby and their two children were making their way to the U.S.

During Tuesday's arraignment, Kubby's lawyer, Bill McPike, asked a Placer County Superior Court Judge if his client could use a non-smoking form of cannabis while in jail. Kubby contends that he will die if he is not able to take marijuana for his cancer.

McPike also requested for Kubby to serve his sentence under home detention using an electronic device at his new home in Marin County. The judge is scheduled to rule on the request Friday.

It is unclear whether Kubby would have to serve more days if prosecuted for the violation of probation charge.

Calls to McPike and Deputy District Attorney Chris Cattran were not returned by Tahoe World deadline Wednesday.

A number of medical marijuana advocates and patients rallied around the jail before Tuesday's arraignment in support of Kubby.

"Steve Kubby suffers from a rare form of cancer. He survived longer than anyone with the disease and he credits it to medical marijuana," California Marijuana Party President Tony Bowles said by phone Tuesday afternoon. "He has not received medical treatment [while in jail]. They gave him Marinol, but he needs the whole plant. He is not getting the medical treatment he needs. We support Steve and he stands as testament to medicinal marijuana usage."

California Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) even released a statement urging Placer County officials to allow Kubby marijuana while incarcerated.

"There is no reason why this medicine would be off-limits in the prison walls, but not outside," Migden wrote. "So I call on the officials from the Placer County Sheriff's Department to follow our state's law and give Mr. Kubby the medicine he needs to live. Whether you agree with the only treatment that has worked for Steve Kubby or not, don't let him die on your watch!"

Lt. George Malim said Tuesday that he could not discuss Kubby's medical treatment or condition, but that Kubby received the inmate's rules and handbook like every other inmate in Placer County.

"He's getting the same treatment as everyone else," said Dena Erwin of the Placer County Sheriff's Office. "To us, he is just one of 500 inmates. He's not smoking marijuana."

Kubby ran for governor in 1998 under the Libertarian Party banner and was co-author of Prop. 215, the initiative approved by California voters in 1996 for the legalization of medical marijuana.

Friday's hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Auburn.

- The Tahoe World will have an online update Friday on the Kubby case. Visit our Web site at: http://www.tahoe-world.com/

Copyright: 2006 Tahoe World