HIGH COURT REFUSES TO ALLOW MESCALINE-CONVICTION APPEAL

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to grant an
appeal of a felony conviction for Steven Wynn Kubby, the medical-marijuana
activist convicted of possession of mescaline.

The state's highest court refused to review an appeal court decision in
June that reinstated Kubby's felony conviction, which a Placer County judge
had reduced to a misdemeanor.

Marijuana possession and cultivation charges were dropped in 2001 after a
jury voted 11-1 for acquittal, but Kubby was convicted of felony possession
of mescaline and a psychedelic mushroom. The judge reduced both to
misdemeanors. The 3rd District Court of Appeal said he erred because the
law specifically makes mescaline possession a felony.

Kubby, who fled to Canada, is considered a fugitive for failing to report
to jail in July 2001 to serve a 120-day sentence on the convictions. He
contends the jail term would be tantamount to a death sentence because he
would be unable to receive marijuana therapy for adrenal cancer.