JAILED CANCER SURVIVOR LOSES 25 POUNDS IN THREE WEEKS

Steve Kubby, 59, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor of
California, was a leading force behind the passage of the 1996
referendum which legalized medical marijuana there. But it was after
voters approved Proposition 215 that California police broke into
Kubby's Lake Tahoe home, busting him and his wife Michele for growing
what they contended was "too much" marijuana.

(Kubby asked them not to frighten his young daughter by breaking into
his home with guns drawn -- saying he'd gladly show them his marijuana
plants at any time. He tells me he sent this message to police by
placing a note in his trash can, knowing the cops were going so far as
to routinely rifle his trash in search of "evidence" of his "crime."
Prosecutors duly introduced the note at his trial.)

After Kubby -- a long-time survivor of a cancer of the adrenal gland
that doctors say should have killed him years ago -- explained why he
needed to maintain more than 200 plants in various stages of growth at
his Lake Tahoe home to successfully breed the strains which keep his
adrenalin levels below toxic levels, his California jury in 2001
acquitted him -- on a vote of 11-1 -- on all five charges relating to
their marijuana cultivation. They did, however, convict Kubby on a
minor related charge after police found a dried-up hallucinogenic
mushroom stem or cactus button (police were never sure which) in a
drawer in a guest bedroom of the house.

The Kubbys say they don't know whether the dried-out vegetable
fragments were left behind by house guests or planted by police, who
apparently changed the identification and labeling of the exhibit
several times.

Kubby's jury was purposely screened to eliminate Libertarians, pot
users or those in favor of re-legalization, violating the vital
safeguard of the randomly selected jury. Then, needless to say, rather
than instructing the jurors as to their irreversible power to decide
that this law and its application were wacky, the trial judge told
them they had no choice but to enforce the law.

A cancer survivor who has received medical advice that he could die if
incarcerated as long as four days without his quasi-legal medication,
Kubby fled to Canada rather than submit to a court-ordered 117-day
California jail sentence on the dried-up vegetable charge.

Former California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, whom Kubby describes
as having been "made to look ridiculous" in a 1998 debate with the
Libertarian candidate, apparently took on the Kubby case as a personal
vendetta, labeling Kubby a "fugitive" and successfully lobbying
Canadian authorities to send him back to "face his punishment" --
which Kubby's wife Michele and at least one physician involved in the
case believe may prove a death sentence.

(Placed in isolation without adequate blankets in the chilly Placer
County jail in the foothills of the Sierras, Kubby won't be allowed to
use the medical marijuana which has kept him alive for years -- even
though Canadian authorities scoffed at the notion that returning to
America could endanger Kubby's health.)

Steve Kubby was deported from Canada on Jan. 26, arrested immediately
upon the arrival of his plane at San Francisco International Airport
that night, and transported back to Auburn, Calif.

On Feb. 15, the court was informed that San Francisco defense attorney
J. David Nick has agreed to represent Kubby, who has asked to be
re-sentenced as a felon by Judge John L. Cosgrove, the original trial
judge. A felony sentencing hearing will provide Kubby with certain
rights not available to him under misdemeanor sentencing rules.

At a re-sentencing hearing scheduled for March 3, Nick is expected to
argue that Kubby should be sentenced to probation.

Michele Kubby has expressed her gratitude to Dr. Tod Mikuriya, her
husband's physician in California, who has written a prescription for
Marinol, a synthetic form of one of the active alkaloids in marijuana
- -- THC.

Mrs. Kubby adds, "Dr. Mikuriya is also under attack, as is anyone
involved with marijuana. Currently he is facing persecution by the
Medical Board of California for bravely recommending cannabis to a
wide variety of patients. He is facing a fine of over $75,000 for his
brave stand. Without Dr. Mikuriya's support, Steve would not be alive
today. He made sure that Steve had Marinol when he checked into the
Placer County jail having a hypertensive blood pressure attack."

Jail authorities refuse to pay for Kubby's Marinol -- he receives only
such supplies as his family can afford to buy for him.

On their Web site, www.kubby.com, Michele Kubby reports that between
Jan. 26 and Feb. 20 Steve "has lost 25 pounds and has had blood
pressure problems due to the poor diet he is being fed. He also has
had shingles for three weeks, indicating that his immune system is
failing. ... We are gathering information about the importance of diet
and cancer because we are hoping to educate the jail about the danger
they are putting Steve in with their poor food quality. So far, the
jail has been very stubborn about offering Steve food that will
nourish his body's particular needs."

Last year, Michelle told me, "When we first went to court, we were
confident that The Compassionate Use Act (Prop 215) and the Bill of
Rights protected us. To our horror we found that the law we helped
pass in 1996 didn't matter. ...

"The reality is that everything they taught us about our rights in
their government schools is a lie. The Democratic system of checks and
balances, so nicely outlined on the blackboard, no longer exists. Even
the people's right to throw out bad laws handed down by the
Legislature has been officially outlawed by the California Supreme
Court.

"Welcome to the Drug War, where ... police can invade your home ...
peek through your windows, go through your garbage, and even listen
through your walls. Before you know it, you'll be facing a jury where
Libertarians and people who used marijuana or advocate its
re-legalization are banned" -- a precise description of the jury that
tried Steve Kubby, of course.

Donations to the Kubby Defense Fund can be addressed to 1135 Terminal
Way, Suite 106, Reno, NV 89502.

Vin Suprynowicz is the Review-Journal's assistant editorial page
editor.