KUBBY SMOKES POT WHILE WAITING TO RESUME TRIAL

AUBURN - The unmistakable aroma of pot wafted through the air outside
a north Auburn courtroom Tuesday as a small group of medical marijuana
users smoked on a grassy patch a short stroll away from the Placer
County District Attorney's Office.

Led by Steve Kubby, a former gubernatorial candidate who with his wife
Michele faces 19 criminal counts of growing marijuana for sale, six
persons holding physicians' recommendations lit up joints in a
demonstration that provoked no reaction from law enforcement.

Kubby said before the exhibition he was prepared for the possibility
of being arrested for asserting his rights under the law to smoke
marijuana for medicinal purposes. Four years ago, state voters
approved by a 55 to 45 percent margin the Compassionate Use Act of
1996, which allows seriously ill Californians to possess and smoke
marijuana with the recommendation of a doctor.

Joining Kubby were Jane Weirick, director of St. Martin's Dispensary
in San Francisco, and Florida resident Elvy Musikka, one of only eight
people in the country enrolled in a federal medical marijuana program.

"Medicate, guys!" said Michele, who did not participate in the
demonstration. She was speaking to her husband and friends as each
inhaled from joints.

Before striking a match, Kubby said he planned the demonstration to
educate the public about the medicinal properties of the illegal drug.
Kubby was diagnosed 20 years ago with malignant pheochromocytoma, a
rare form of adrenal cancer that causes the adrenaline in his body to
rise to life-threatening levels.

Kubby said he has tried conventional medical treatments, but claims
only marijuana holds the symptoms of the cancer in check. To that end,
Kubby maintains he must smoke roughly every hour and a half.

Federal program enrollee Musikka, who lost an eye to conventional
treatment for glaucoma 24 years ago, said she receives upwards of 10
joints a day from a pharmacy contracted to provide the Schedule 1
drug. She said she prefers to smoke just half the amount she receives,
though, saving the rest for her baking.

"This is my medicine," she said, extending a large pill bottle filled
with joints roughly a quarter inch thick and about 4 inches long.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Gene Gini, one of two county
attorneys prosecuting the Kubbys, declined to comment on the political
exercise because of the pending litigation.

However, prosecutors have argued the 265 marijuana plants confiscated
from the couple's Olympic Valley home last January were intended for
sale. Prosecutors contend that part of the proof is contained in
personal bank account records that show an influx of more than
$100,000, in mostly cash with a few checks, over 18 months prosecutors
said.

Additionally, investigators in the case have connected Jeff Jones of
the Oakland Buyers' Cooperative to the checks.

The Kubbys have denied all allegations of criminal activity.