BAY AREA BRIEFS

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Steve and Michelle Kubby reassured Libertarians
Sunday night that they grew marijuana solely for their own use and had no
intent to sell it.

Steve Kubby was the party's candidate in last year's governor's race. He
and his wife were arrested last month at their Olympic Valley home where
authorities seized 256 pot plants.

They were charged with cultivating marijuana, conspiracy and possession
with intent to sell.

"There was no way economically we could stop growing his medicine," Mrs.
Kubby told the crowd at the Libertarian Party's state convention, which
ended Monday in San Jose.

The worst part of their ordeal , she said, was time in the Auburn jail
where she could hear her husband vomiting but was not allowed to see him.

"This medicine (marijuana) is what keeps him alive," she said. Without it,
"they almost killed him."

Kubby has a rare form of adrenal cancer. The marijuana helps control his
blood pressure, helping protect against stroke, Mrs. Kubby said. She uses
pot as an anti-spasmodic for irritable bowel syndrome.