cannabisnews.com: From Canada, Kubby Fights Drug Convictions 





From Canada, Kubby Fights Drug Convictions 
Posted by FoM on July 27, 2001 at 08:48:16 PT
By  Wayne Wilson, Bee Staff Writer 
Source: Sacramento Bee
Medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby said Thursday he will continue to fight his misdemeanor drug convictions from Canada rather than submit to a 117-day stay in the Placer County jail. "They forced me to choose between going to jail and participating in my own death there or being with my family here," Kubby explained, speaking by phone from his new home in Sechelt, British Columbia. Kubby claims a jail-imposed interruption in his physician-approved marijuana cancer therapy would endanger his life.
He defied a court order by not surrendering to jail authorities a week ago, but said he doesn't consider himself to be a fugitive from justice."I talked to the probation department yesterday. They have my address," he said."I'm not going to put my life at risk while this is under appeal, and I still haven't had a chance to have an attorney go before the judge and argue for a stay of the sentence."Kubby's case has been referred to the Central California Appellate Program for appointment of counsel. Kubby said he fully expects his convictions to be overturned on appeal.Because he failed to appear at the jail Friday, Kubby will be charged with violating probation and an arrest warrant request will be filed with the court, said Deputy Chief Probation Officer Jennifer Keck.But that doesn't mean he'll be picked up and returned to the United States.Although not one of more than half a dozen legal authorities consulted could cite specific law, all agreed that extradition of a misdemeanant from another country would never happen.Kubby, 54, a former Libertarian candidate for governor, was arrested in January 1999. A pot task force, acting on an anonymous tip, searched his Olympic Valley home and found 265 marijuana plants in various stages of growth.Kubby, claiming the crop was strictly medicinal, won dismissal of all five marijuana counts after a jury voted 11-1 for acquittal Dec. 21, 2000.But he was convicted of possessing small quantities of two other controlled substances- psilocyn and mescaline -- incidentally turned up in the form of a mushroom stem and peyote buttons during the search of his home.Judge John L. Cosgrove granted Kubby's request to have the convictions reduced from felonies to misdemeanors, placed him on three years probation and ordered that he serve 120 days in jail, minus the three he spent incarcerated at the time of his arrest.His May 11 surrender date was extended to July 20 when jail officials told the judge that a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling on medical pot could have a bearing on their treatment of Kubby's unique medicinal needs.When that decision was issued May 14, the high court declared the sale or possession of marijuana for medical use illegal.It became clear to Kubby that the jail would not provide him with the pot necessary to treat his disease, a most-often-fatal form of adrenal cancer he's been battling for more than 16 years.When his surrender date arrived Friday, Kubby was in Canada, with his wife, Michele, and their two children."We're here as business visitors while we build our video production company," Kubby said Thursday.Their legal residence remains in Southern California, where Michele, 35, intends to launch a campaign for the office of lieutenant governor, Kubby said. "She'll be on the ballot in March."If she's elected, he joked, "She can pardon me when Governor Davis leaves the state."The Bee's Wayne Wilson can be reached at: wwilson sacbee.comSource: Sacramento Bee (CA)Author: Wayne Wilson, Bee Staff WriterPublished: July 27, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Related Articles & Web Site:The Kubby Fileshttp://www.kubby.org/Kubby Fails To Appear for Jail Sentence http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10379.shtmlKubby Files $200 Million Lawsuit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10134.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Kubbyhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=kubby 
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Comment #1 posted by New Mexican on July 27, 2001 at 16:27:54 PT
More evidence of kubbys' theory:
The long hand of U.S.law and the bush effect:http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010727/1/19t5n.html
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