MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE'S FINAL DRUG CONVICTIONS DISMISSED

A Mendocino County court has dismissed the remnants of a 1999 Placer
County prosecution of medical marijuana proponent Steve Kubby.

The ruling -- which sees Kubby's misdemeanor convictions for
possession of a magic mushroom stem and peyote buttons expunged under
California law -- came last week.

Full erasure of the conviction would take a governor's pardon, but
Kubby said Tuesday that the court decision to dismiss the case leaves
him "fully vindicated and in possession, once again, of my
inalienable, inseparable, non-transferable rights."

Mendocino County Chief Probation Officer Wesley Forman issued a
statement said that he had no objection to the dismissal by Judge
David Nelson because Kubby had complied with the terms of his probation.

Kubby's legal challenges started after a January 1999 raid on his
Olympic Valley home in Placer County. The raid netted 265 marijuana
plants from an indoor grow.

Kubby was a chief proponent of medicinal marijuana law Prop. 215 when
it was passed by voters in 1996 and ran for governor as a Libertarian
two years ago. He was also a candidate for Libertarian Party
presidential nominee this year.

Kubby's chief defense at the trial was that he and his wife had a
doctor's recommendation for medical use of marijuana and that his use
kept a rare form of adrenal cancer at bay.

In one of the most contentious trials in Placer County legal history,
a mistrial was declared after a jury leaning 11-1 for acquittal on
possession-of-marijuana-for-sale charges remained deadlocked after
five days of deliberations and four months of testimony.

Kubby would eventually serve 20 days of a 120-day jail term in Placer
County on the jury's peyote and mescaline possession convictions,
both misdemeanors.

Kubby, 61, now lives in Mendocino County. He said that he has fond
memories of much of his life in the county but that he wouldn't
return as long as the district attorney who prosecuted the case --
Brad Fenocchio -- was still in office.