cannabisnews.com: Pot Activist Held for Three Days in Canada Pot Activist Held for Three Days in Canada Posted by FoM on April 28, 2002 at 16:45:25 PT By Vin Suprynowicz Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal The Associated Press reported out of Sechelt, British Columbia, on April 18 that medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby was arrested there by Royal Canadian Mounted police on April 16. Kubby had fled to Canada last summer rather than report to jail on misdemeanor charges stemming from a 2000 marijuana raid on his Olympic Valley home near Lake Tahoe. Sgt. Bryon Hodgkin of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported a search of the Kubbys' residence resulted in the seizure of what he called "a sophisticated marijuana grow" featuring "approximately 160 marijuana plants." Kubby, 54, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor of California, was a leading force behind the passage of the Golden State referenda that legalized medical marijuana. An adrenal cancer survivor and medical marijuana user, Kubby has been living in Canada rather than submit to a court-ordered 120-day jail sentence in California. Although Kubby has appealed that conviction, a court in Sacramento this month dismissed his appeal, citing his fugitive status. Apparently Californians waive their right to appeal if they refuse to let the state kill them in the meantime. It's worth noting that Kubby's original California jury unanimously acquitted him on all charges that he did anything wrong by growing his own marijuana at home -- the convictions actually involve only small pieces of dried cactus or mushroom stem found in a spare bedroom of the California home. At any rate, Kubby failed to surrender to the Placer County jail in California as ordered on July 25, 2001, instead fleeing north where he has maintained a high profile in the pot legalization movement, founding the American Medical Marijuana Association and hosting (along with his wife) Canada's Internet-based Pot-TV news. Canadian sources indicate it was that high profile which led to pressure on Canadian authorities from south of the border to crack down after Steve and his wife Michelle invited press photographers to tour their home recently, resulting in the publication of photos of the medical marijuana they grow there. Kubby was bailed out April 19, to the tune of $17,000 (plus $10,000 in legal fees) by Marc Emery, owner of Pot-TV (www.pot-tv.net) and publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine. "We're getting into very dangerous territory because the last time we were incarcerated (the late) Dr. (Vincent) DeQuattro said that if Steve was incarcerated for four days we would have been studying him via autopsy," an obviously shaken Michelle Kubby told me on April 19. "As a result of the 'necessity defense', no patient in Canada has ever been convicted for growing medical marijuana," Mrs. Kubby wrote in a follow-up April 21 e-mail to supporters, after her husband was released. "In fact, medical marijuana continues to be supported by 93 percent of the people in British Columbia. For these reasons, it's difficult to imagine that a jury would even consider convicting Steve. ..." Responding to the California court's threat to dismiss his appeal if he did not return to California to die unmedicated in one of their jails, Kubby wrote to his appellate attorney Scott Concklin of Redding, Calif. on April 14: "Dear Mr. Concklin -- How ironic that the state of California, having driven me into bankruptcy, now demands that I return to California where I would be unable to make bail and forced to participate in my own murder. ... "The justices accuse me of being a fugitive and mocking the law, but I have worked my entire life to obey and uphold the law. It is these judges, all former prosecutors, who make a mockery of the law by refusing to uphold the will of the voters who passed Props. 215 and 36, laws which are supposed to protect me from such legal abuse. "I invested two-and-a-half years of my life and everything I owned to prove I was innocent of all marijuana charges. To this day, I have never received any of the money or property stolen from me by the police and now I face the death penalty over a mushroom stem and a cactus button. This isn't justice and it isn't what America is supposed to stand for. "To continue to threaten my life and my family over such a trivial issue as non-usable amount of natural substances is bizarre and perverted to the extreme, making a mockery not only of the law, but of the brave men and women who gave their lives for our Constitution and Bill of Rights." In her April 21 e-mail, Michelle Kubby added, "I know many of you are concerned about Steve's health and I wish the news in that department were as positive as other areas, but it is not." Kubby lost 20 pounds due to nausea and vomiting as his blood pressure spiked during his three-day incarceration, he and his wife report. "Steve is now in a unique situation: His 'life-and-death necessity' defense will force the authorities to deal with the reality of medical marijuana. My husband has never started these fights, but he seems uniquely suited to stand up for all of our rights when everyone else has been forced to back down." In California, despite the passage of Propositions 215 and 36, "Patients are still being arrested," Mrs. Kubby points out. "The federal government is systematically closing cannabis clubs by force or legal action. The Bush administration has also re-opened the federal case the Clinton administration started against doctors shortly after the Compassionate Use Act passed. Things keep getting worse and worse for sick people. We need this case, in this jurisdiction, to finally end this war against Steve and sick people like him. ... " Vin Suprynowicz, the Review-Journal's assistant editorial page editor, is author of the new book "The Ballad of Carl Drega." His column appears Sunday.Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Author: Vin SuprynowiczPublished: Sunday, April 28, 2002Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters lvrj.comWebsite: http://www.lvrj.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Pot-TVhttp://www.pot-tv.net/Medical-Pot Activist Freedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12615.shtmlKubby Faces Marijuana Charges in Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12595.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on April 29, 2002 at 05:31:24 PT How sad. Perhaps you should send this info to Richard Cowan for his new site TheVictimFiles.com? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ekim on April 28, 2002 at 18:48:26 PT The Bill & Peggy Survival Fund I share this not to promote a solicitation, but because it tells about two elderly people in California who the government apparently thinks are a threat to society, and a story that you won't catch in your local fishwrap or the evening news.BTW, it will only cost us taxpayers about $125,000 to keep these "dangerous criminals" in the slammer, so I guess the government thinks that's small change in order to fight it's war on terrorism and I suppose we should feel that much safer. *********************Message from the wife of former marijuana prisoner BE Smith:The Bill & Peggy Survival FundThis flyer is regarding Bill and Peggy Riddick who have been sentenced for growing medical marijuana for the San Francisco Cannabis Club in 1997. Peggy will be 70 this year and on May 13, 2002, has to turn herself in to Dublin's Federal Prison Camp. Her Husband Bill at the same date, will have to turn himself into a Federal Prison Camp in Sheridan, Oregon. Their sentence is for 30 months.The Riddicks had their home confiscated for the medical plants in a shed on their property. They have gone through five long years with the Federal Court System. Now, at an even older age and with health problems, they are facing 2 1\2 years apart, without even being able to communicate with one another, and without a home to come home to. We would like to help them make it through this time, and try and give them some hope in coming home.So we have established the Bill & Peggy Fund.We are also going to be selling tickets for nice things, and trying to get information about Bill& Peggy out to the public. As soon as we have the address & prison number they will have we will send it out to everyone, so they can get letters of encouragement, love and hope. We are hoping fervently to be able to raise enough money to either re-buy their home, or provide them with something else. Also, they have been told their Social Security will stop when they go into prison and they will need money for personal items in prison.Bill & Peggy are two of the most loving, giving, people I have ever met. They have graced our lives immensely. They have faithfully supported those who have been or are being prosecuted by the state and federal government for medical marijuana. It is people like Bill & Peggy who have and will help change the government's and the people's attitude about medical marijuana.They didn't intend to be martyrs for the "cause" when they did this. They just believed medical marijuana was something sick people should have the right to use, and decided to work with Dennis Perone on it. It has taken a heavy toll on their lives. They both have serious health problems. Please help us by rallying behind these two people. The Bill & Peggy Fund has been set up so you can send a check or money order and make it out to: The Bill & Peggy Survival Fund. The Address would go like this:The Bill & Peggy Survival Fund PO Box 4012 Yankee Hill, California, 95965You don't need to put more on the check than simply that The Bill & Peggy Survival Fund, and it will be deposited in a special account set up for them. Two people will be on the account, to send Bill & Peggy money, or what ever their special needs might be.There will be a check and balance on the money. And an open accounting kept with Bill & Peggy on the money that comes in. If you have any questions please feel free to write or call me, Mary Smith, at 530-629-4356. My mailing address is: PO Box 132, Salyer, California, 95563 God Bless and Thanks - -- - ---- Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml igc.org 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by 2Spooky on April 28, 2002 at 18:20:47 PT Hope he wins What law did the judge site as authority to dismiss his appeal? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment