KUBBY CALLS FELONY CONVICTION 'A MOCKERY'

AUBURN -- Steven Wynn Kubby, the medical-marijuana activist whose 2001
misdemeanor conviction for possession of mescaline was reinstated to a
felony by an appeals court last week, has called the reversal a
"mockery of justice."

"When you seek a felony conviction for some cactus buttons found in a
guest bedroom, it's a mockery," Kubby said Friday by telephone from
Canada, where he now resides.

Still, Kubby said, the appellate court's action actually may help him.
He said he is seeking to remain in Canada and that the felony charge
provides him with a stronger argument in his petition to stay.

Kubby and his wife, Michele, say Canadian officials allow him to use
marijuana as treatment for adrenal cancer.

Steven Kubby is wanted in Placer County for failing to report for a
120-day jail sentence for the mescaline conviction and for a
misdemeanor conviction for possession of psilocin, a
hallucinogen.

He contends the jail term would be tantamount to a death sentence,
because he would be unable to receive marijuana therapy for the cancer.

On Monday, the 3rd District Court of Appeal restored the felony
conviction, saying a Placer County judge had erred in reducing it to a
misdemeanor in 2001.

Kubby stood trial in 2001 on charges of possession of marijuana for
sale and marijuana cultivation. Those charges were dropped after a
jury voted 11-1 for acquittal, but he was convicted of possession of
the other two substances.