MEDICAL POT REFUGEE LOSES DEPORTATION CASE

VANCOUVER - A self-described medical marijuana refugee has about two
weeks to appeal a ruling ordering he be deported back to the United
States.

Steve Kubby came to B.C. two years ago, seeking to avoid a jail
sentence in California that he said will kill him. He is here with his
wife and two children.

Kubby constantly smokes marijuana to control a rare form of adrenal
cancer. If he were incarcerated and deprived of the drug, he claims he
would die.

An Immigration and Refugee Board decision released Monday rejected
that argument, saying it would not put his life at risk or subject him
to torture.

The decision was not what Kubby was expecting.

"The physician that they selected testified under oath that if I was
denied cannabis for more than 48 hours I would suffer a heart attack
or a stroke and I would probably lose my life," he said.

Representatives from the federal Immigration Minister's argued Kubby
should be deported.

Mark Emery of the B.C. Marijuana Party was watching the case closely.
He felt it could set a precedent for other such refugees in Canada.

"So if Steve Kubby were permitted to stay it would be seen as slap in
the face to the Bush Administration's hard-on-drugs policy. Ultimately
if he goes back and dies in federal prision he will have proved his
point."

Kubby's appeal must be made to the Federal Court of Canada.