POT GURUS TESTIFY FOR KUBBY

Psychiatrist: 'Some reported using up to 25 (joints) a day'

Two of California's modern-day pot pioneers took the stand Thursday in
defense of Steve and Michele Kubby.

The Kubbys are being tried in Placer County Superior Court on 16-drug
related charges ­ the most serious of which is marijuana possession for
sale. A total of 265 pot plants were confiscated after a January 1999
search of their Olympic Valley house. They contend the indoor garden was
for personal medical use.

Psychiatrists Dr. Tod Mikuriya and Dr. Eugene Schoenfeld testified during
Kubby court proceedings in Auburn that marijuana would have been of medical
help to the couple, both of whom received doctor's recommendations for pot
use under Proposition 215.

Mikuriya, a Berkeley physician, was in charge of the National Institute of
Mental Health's first marijuana research efforts in 1967. He has gone on to
edit an anthology of historical marijuana essays published in 1972, and
recently co-wrote "The Medical Marijuana Handbook."

Mikuriya said cannabis is an effective treatment for a rare form of adrenal
cancer Steve Kubby has been diagnosed with. Not only does the medical
marijuana treatment decrease anxiety, patients have reported that their
blood pressure actually decreases with pot use, he said.

Called as an expert witness on cannabis as a medical treatment, Mikuriya is
president of the nonprofit California Cannabis Research Medical Group and
has served as consultant to medical marijuana centers in Oakland and San
Francisco.

Asked whether he has been described as a pioneer in the realm of medical
marijuana, Mikuriya replied "that would be one term applied to me, yes."

Mikuriya is also the doctor who provided Michele Kubby with a medical
marijuana recommendation. The doctor said he did so in mid-1998 as a
treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. The marijuana not only works on the
central nervous system to relieve anxiety and depression, it also relieves
cramping in the bowel and stomach, he said.

Schoenfeld, a Sausalito psychiatrist in private practice, has served as the
director of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic family practice and worked as a
pioneering radio broadcaster on drug issues. Schoenfeld told the Kubby
trial jury that he has been acknowledged as the first doctor to provide
live, on-air medical advice. His partner during the early 1970s in the
announcer's booth was Howard Hessman, who would later gain fame as deejay
Johnny Fever on TV's "WKRP in Cincinnati," the psychiatrist pointed out.
Schoenfeld also wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column under the
name "Dr. Hip-ocrates."

Schoenfeld said that in his opinion, marijuana is an effective medicine for
cancer. It can relieve pain, nausea and serve as an appetite stimulant, he
said.

Like Mikuriya, Schoenfeld said cannabis could decrease high blood pressure
­one of the symptoms of Kubby's adrenal cancer.

Asked about descriptions by other witnesses for the defense indicating
Steve Kubby virtually was a marijuana chainsmoker, Schoenfeld said it would
be consistent with the actions of other patients.

"Some reported using up to 25 (joints) a day," he said.

One of the key issues in the case is the amount of useable marijuana the
Kubby crop would produce - and how much the Kubbys could consume. Law
enforcement says the crop would have yielded 25 pounds. The Kubby defense
contends it would have been closer to 3.5 pounds.

Steve Kubby, Libertarian Party candidate for governor in 1998, and his wife
have yet to testify.

Asked if marijuana is an effective treatment for irritable bowel syndrome,
Schoenfeld replied in the affirmative. Pot can relieve anxiety and relax
any spasms in the digestive tract, he said.

Schoenfeld went on to say he believed that the best medicine available for
inflamed bowel syndrome is marijuana.

The trial will break for the Thanksgiving holiday, returning to court
Tuesday, Nov. 28.