DEADLINE PASSES FOR ADOPTING MARIJUANA GUIDELINES

Steve Kubby Says Recall Effort Against Brad Fenocchio To Begin

A recall effort against Placer County District Attorney Brad Fenocchio is
looming after a deadline set by former Libertarian Party gubernatorial
candidate Steve Kubby to adopt so-called Oakland guidelines came and went.

Monday was the deadline set by Kubby, who spent four months on trial late
last year on possession of marijuana-for-sales charges in Placer County. A
jury eventually deadlocked 11-1 for acquittal, although Kubby was convicted
of felony possession of a magic mushroom stem and peyote buttons. He'll be
sentenced Feb. 2.

Kubby held a press conference Dec. 28 in Orange County to demand that
Fenocchio set standards matching the City of Oakland guidelines for medical
marijuana use under Proposition 215.

Fenocchio said Tuesday that the Oakland guidelines had not been adopted and
his office will continue to consider each case as it comes in.

"We don't bend to these forms of threats," he said.

Because the case is still before the courts, Fenocchio declined to comment
directly on the Kubby challenge. Prosecutors commonly face pressure from
either the side of the accused or the victim, he said.

"We're going to continue looking at cases on an individual basis,"
Fenocchio said. "This office isn't going to be bought or bullied. It's that
simple."

Kubby helped put Prop. 215 on the statewide ballot in 1996. He has a
doctor's recommendation to grow and smoke pot to help fight the symptoms of
a rare form of adrenal cancer. The Oakland guidelines allow patients to
grow up to 48 mature plants indoors, have a total of 144 plants, and
possess up to 6 pounds of patient-grown cannabis.

A total of 265 pot plants were seized in a January 1998 raid on Kubby's
Olympic Valley home. He and his wife, Michele, were both charged with
possession of marijuana for sale. Michele Kubby also had a doctor's medical
marijuana recommendation. Hers was for irritable bowel syndrome.

Kubby said at the press conference that he planned to begin the recall
effort in February - after his sentencing. Fund raising has already begun.
The American Medical Marijuana Association, which Kubby heads, is asking
supporters to start pledging money.

Kubby said his immediate goal is to raise $25,000 to train local residents
and gather 20,000 signatures. A total of 15,550 signatures of registered
voters are needed to qualify for a recall election in Placer County.

Also onboard is Jay Cavanaugh, a former commissioner of the California
State Pharmacy Board. He will head the committee to recall Fenocchio.

Kubby said Fenocchio is abusing his power to prosecute when his office
charges patients "attempting to lawfully assert their rights under the
Compassionate Use Act." Fenocchio's office is wasting money on expensive
show trials and opening up the county to more unnecessary expenditures from
civil suits, Kubby said.

Fenocchio said he has tried to act responsibly by not adopting standards
that could affect the outcome of other cases. Several counties have
established standards that allow medical marijuana amounts far below the
Oakland guidelines, he said.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer issued a letter to counties in
September that provided some of the standards around the state. In Nevada
County, 10 plants are allowed - but no more than 2 pounds of processed pot
can be in a patient's possession. In Shasta County, six plants can be grown
indoors and two outdoors. One-and-a-third pound of processed marijuana is
acceptable. In Sierra County, six plants are allowed indoors and three
outdoors. The quantity of processed pot would be "assessed by a physician."
In Tehama County, the sheriff's department allowed 18 immature or six
mature plants. Humboldt County allows 10 plants or 2 pounds of processed
marijuana if the amount is consistent with the medical treatment.

Adding to the uncertainty is the lack of a state standard. An attorney
general task force's recommendations to set up a registry never moved
through the Assembly, Fenocchio said. Another difficulty is the federal
position, he said.

"Regardless of the California law, the federal government considers it an
illegal substance," he said. And I don't want to compromise effective law
enforcement - it's not a simple issue and there's no simple solution."