But several county district attorneys have been less cooperative. Claiming that federal law automatically supersedes state law (not necessarily true, and hardly relevant for a local official) or that Proposition 215 is too vague (but not overly so for Oakland, apparently), these herbal inquisitors have enthusiastically picked some targets seemingly for no reason other than their high profiles. Prominent among those on the receiving end of the wrath of the drug warriors have been Peter McWilliams and Steve and Michele Kubby.

Best-selling author Peter McWilliams was an AIDS patient who used grass to control nausea so that he could hold down his medication. He was also a very prominent non-fan of intrusive government and a public promoter of the medical marijuana movement — which seemed to have been the spur behind the raids on his home and publishing business.

Forbidden to use marijuana during his trial under threat of the seizure of the homes of his mother and brother, McWilliams rapidly sickened. He pled guilty when he was forbidden to raise Prop. 215 as a defense, then died before sentencing.

The Kubbys had better luck, though no thanks to the authorities. Steve Kubby uses marijuana as a treatment for his adrenal cancer, while his wife, Michele, uses pot to alleviate a case of spastic colon. But, like McWilliams, Steve Kubby wasn't shy about his political leanings and played a public role as a promoter of Prop. 215.

At the conclusion of their well-covered trial, Michele was found "not guilty" on all counts, while the jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal on the major charges against Steve.

Not surprisingly, the Kubbys are playing a role in the medical marijuana movement's counterstrike against drug warrior prosecutors. For starters, pot activists took over a flagging recall effort against Marin County District Attorney Paula Kamena. According to the Los Angeles Times, in the past "police made it a point to call the [Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana] to check its registry of 1,300 patients before making a pot arrest. But that practice ebbed … after Kamena won her seat in 1998."

So local activists struck back. They gathered 20,000-plus signatures — enough to put the future of the DA's political career before voters on May 22 of this year.

In typical prohibitionist fashion, Kamena countered with suggestions that her opponents — those 20,000 petition-signers, presumably — are all a bunch of drug dealers. Before a ready audience of reporters, she asked: "Are these the people who sell drugs to our kids?"

Kamena may be fighting the wrong battle, considering that Marin County is among those jurisdictions that approved Proposition 215 by a healthy margin.

Paula Kamena isn't the only one of the drug warriors to face payback for their prohibitionist ways. With the Marin vote set, similar efforts are developing in other counties where modern-day Elliott Nesses hold sway, including Sonoma, Placer, Shasta and El Dorado. Placer County, incidentally, is the jurisdiction that went after the Kubbys (McWilliams was tried in federal court). It's an especially tempting target for pot-law reformers since, says the San Francisco Bay Guardian, "most notoriously in Placer County local law enforcement officials have adopted a hard-line, throw-'em-all-in-jail approach similar to that of the federal government."

Now, apologists for the hard-line prosecutors say that the recall efforts are moves to punish elected officials for enforcing the law — as they see it, anyway. It's just plain old mean, they say, to give officials a hard time for doing their jobs — especially when the fate of efforts like Proposition 215 is set to be determined this year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Well, so what?

Whether Prop. 215 survives or not, recall efforts are proving to be an effective means of targeting authoritarian public officials. No matter if the law sides with the authorities or the legalizers, the recall movement provides pro-liberty activists with a tool for undermining the enforcement of restrictions that don't enjoy popular support.

Think about that. Medical marijuana supporters have put District Attorney Paula Kamena's career on the ballot. Whatever the outcome of the vote, she will have to expend time, effort and political capital to hold on to her office — these are resources that might otherwise be used to produce more victims of prohibition.

And each recall effort, successful or not, is a shot across the bow to other public officials — a warning to exercise a little discretion when bucking grassroots sentiment for an easing of the war on drugs. Short of an actual repeal of the drug laws, that's a pretty positive development.

And it will be more positive yet if one or more of the drug-warrior DAs goes down in flames at the ballot box.

In the war against government busybodies, victories are measured in holding actions and small increments. Marijuana activists in California deserve a vote of thanks for getting a bit of payback against the drug warriors.

Note: California medical pot activists seek ballot-box revenge against drug warriors. Are recall elections legitimate tools to use against drug warriors?

Source: Civil Liberty
Author: J.D. Tuccille
Published: February 13, 2001
Copyright: 2001 About.com, Inc.
Contact: civilliberty.guide@about.com
Website: http://civilliberty.about.com/newsissues/civilliberty/

Related Articles & Web Site:

Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana
http://www.cbcmarin.com/

Smoke and Smearers
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8681.shtml

Unfair Recall in Marin
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8642.shtml

Prop 215 is designed to help people who really need marijuana. It's one thing to say you are against marijuana use, it's another thing to keep a useful drug from being used by those who need it most.