KUBBY ASKS SUPES TO STOP POT RAIDS

Steve Kubby made an unusual appearance before the Placer County Board of
Supervisors Tuesday, seeking its help in ending a contentious legal battle
over medical use of marijuana.

Wife Michele also addressed the board, calling for a negotiated end to the
battle.

The couple spoke during a part of the meeting set aside for public comments
on topics not already on the board agenda.

Supervisors listened attentively to the Kubbys, but didn't say anything in
response. Legally, the board can't act on topics brought up during public
comments, but can schedule them for discussion at later meetings.

"I was not surprised they didn't respond," Steve Kubby said afterward. "We
had no right to expect any response."

At the heart of the controversy is confusion over Proposition 215, a law
passed by the state's voters in 1996 that allows people to possess
marijuana for medical use if they have the blessing of doctors.

On one hand, the Kubbys and their supporters charge the county Sheriff's
Department frequently ignores the law, saying deputies are in the habit of
sometimes mounting overzealous raids against people who are legally growing
marijuana for medical purposes.

"These raids are wrong. They're immoral," Michele Kubby told supervisors.
"I understood that in the United States of America, if you passed a law, it
was followed."

Department officials say they are just doing their jobs as best they can,
noting they have no state or local guidelines on how to carry out
Proposition 215.

"We are, in fact, pursing that very issue," said Sheriff's Lt. Rick
Armstrong Tuesday, emphasizing that local and state authorities are working
to develop the needed guidelines.

A lingering hard-to-answer question is: What is the dividing line between
the amount of marijuana a person needs to grow for medical uses and the
amount that signals a person is cultivating marijuana for sale.

"That's a difficult issue," Armstrong said, reporting his department walks
away from raids when it's convinced people are legitimately cultivating
marijuana for medical use, as allowed by Proposition 215.

The medical marijuana controversy has dominated the Kubbys' lives since a
January 1999 raid on their Olympic Valley home netted 265 marijuana plants.
Steve Kubby says he needs marijuana to help battle a rare form of adrenal
cancer.

The couple faced felony charges arising from the raid, but those charges
were dropped recently after a mistrial was declared in the case. At that
point, the jury was leaning 11-1 in favor of acquittal.

At Tuesday's meeting, Steve Kubby said he feels vindicated by the decision
to drop the felony charges.

"But that really doesn't affect you," he told supervisors.

Kubby said he also believes his convictions on misdemeanor charges of
possessing a psychedelic mushroom stem and peyote buttons ultimately will
be reversed. Judge John L. Cosgrove sentenced Kubby on March 2 to 120 days
of house arrest and three years of probation on those charges.

On Sunday, Kubby said in a letter to friends that he's unwilling to subject
himself to electronic monitoring and other conditions of house arrest,
acknowledging his decision may mean he will have to spend time in jail.

After Tuesday's meeting, Kubby said house arrest would threaten his health
and impose a financial burden his family can't bear.