MEDICAL MARIJUANA SAVED HIS LIFE, KUBBY TELLS JURORS

Saying that marijuana saved his life, Steve Kubby told a Placer County
Superior Court jury Thursday that he's living proof of the wonders of
medicinal pot. "I felt I owed this plant my life," said Kubby, 53,
explaining that he tried "untraditional medicine" after three surgeries and
chemotherapy failed to cure him of adrenal cancer.

He and his wife, Michele, are on trial in Auburn on charges of conspiracy
and cultivation and possession of marijuana plants for sale. A raid at their
Squaw Valley home in January 1999 turned up 265 plants in various stages of
growth.

Defense attorneys J. Tony Serra and J. David Nick have sought to prove that
the couple grew the plants for their own medicinal use only.

The Kubbys maintain that the marijuana garden was allowed under Proposition
215, passed in 1996, that allowed the use and cultivation of pot by
seriously ill Californians.

Michele Kubby, who completed her testimony earlier Thursday, said she used
tiny amounts of pot for an intestinal ailment.

Steve Kubby, who ran for governor in 1998 on the Libertarian slate, said his
medical problems began in 1969, when he experienced "blinding headaches,"
"pounding heartbeats" and a lack of appetite.

He said he was diagnosed with a benign form of pheochromocytoma.

Kubby, who appeared relaxed during his testimony, said four successive
surgeries didn't stop the disease, which by 1975 had become malignant. He
said his condition deteriorated, until he lost more than 60 pounds.

He testified, however, that he regained his appetite in the mid-1970s, after
his former college roommate, Richard Marin -- who went on to become the
Cheech of the Cheech and Chong comedy team -- persuaded him to try pot as
medicine.

Kubby said he tried other treatments, such as large daily doses of vitamin
C.

In the early 1980s, he said, he traveled to the Bahamian clinic of an
American doctor who was said to have an antidote for his condition.

He said he spent months at the clinic, until it became clear that his
condition wasn't improving.

Returning to the United States, Kubby said, he resumed his practice of
smoking marijuana.

But pot was expensive, he said, and he had to buy it in back alleys. At
times, he couldn't get any, and he continued to use prescription drugs.

Eventually "I weaned myself off all prescription drugs, prior to my meeting
my wife" in 1995, he said.

The court day ended before Kubby could explain how he developed his
marijuana garden.

With his final question of the day, however, Serra asked Kubby if he had
ever supplied marijuana to pot clubs in the Bay Area.

"Never," Kubby said, emphasizing that the marijuana in his home was for
himself and his wife only.

The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Cross-examination by the prosecution is expected to begin that afternoon or
the next day.