U.S. USER OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA TO BE ALLOWED TO APPEAL REFUGEE RULING

VANCOUVER - An American user of medical marijuana whose claim for refugee
status in Canada was rejected more than a year ago says the Federal Court
has agreed to hear an appeal of his case.

Steve Kubby, 58, said he received word last week that the court had granted
him leave to appeal the December, 2003, Immigration and Refugee Board
decision that he and his family were not entitled to refugee status.

The hearing is set for March 24 in Vancouver, he said. Mr. Kubby came to
Canada in 2001 after being convicted in California of possessing peyote and
a magic-mushroom stem and sentenced to 120 days in jail.

He said he is licensed by Health Canada to consume up to 28 grams of
marijuana a day to treat symptoms of his adrenal cancer and he fears that
if he is deported to the United States, he will be jailed for using the drug.