POT ACTIVISTS FACE DEPORTATION

Federal Court Overturns California Family's Appeal

VANCOUVER -- Medical-marijuana advocates Steve and Michele Kubby and
their two young daughters could be deported at any moment after a
last-ditch appeal in the Federal Court of Canada was dismissed.

The California family has been under a removal order since May 2002,
when the Immigration and Refugee Board found that Steve Kubby was
inadmissible to Canada on criminality grounds.

His wife and children were also ordered removed after overstaying
their visitors' visas.

The family filed refugee claims on the grounds that Steve Kubby, who
suffers from a rare form of cancer, used pot for medical purposes.
Their claims were denied.

They appealed their case to the courts, arguing that Steve Kubby faced
possible death in jail if returned to the U.S., but the arguments
failed to overturn the removal order.

On Jan. 9, facing a deportation deadline of Jan. 12, they filed a stay
application in Federal Court. A judge has now dismissed that
application.

Steve Kubby moved to B.C. in 2001 after drug charges were laid against
him in California. He now lives in the Kamloops, B.C., area.

The family is unclear what will happen next.

"We have not received any communications in any way, shape or form
from any government official," Kubby told The Province. "We're
completely in the dark. We don't know if the next knock on the door
will be armed officials ready to transport me to the border."

Federal Court Judge Yvon Pinard found that there was no risk to Kubby
if he was to be returned to the U.S., but Kubby insists there is a
serious threat. "No one in the Canadian courts wants to believe my
life could really be on the line -- even though we've had doctors,
specialists, experts testify that after 24 hours I could suffer a
heart attack, a stroke.

"These are all things that weigh on my wife. It's an ungodly amount of
strain for her."

Kubby was charged in California with cultivating marijuana after 265
pot plants were found in his home, but was later acquitted by a jury.

Kubby, a former candidate for governor, was, along with his wife,
instrumental in passing Proposition 215, which allows marijuana for
medical uses. He believes his current problems are closely linked to
his political positions.