MEDICINAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE, WIFE BUSTED

OLYMPIC VALLEY -- Gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby, an outspoken
supporter of marijuana legalization, and his wife were arrested Tuesday
after narcotics agents found about 300 marijuana plants in their home.

Kubby, 52, a Libertarian Party candidate who received more than 65,000
votes and finished fourth in his bid for governor in November, and his
wife, Michele, 32, were arrested at their Olympic Valley home following a
search by a narcotics task force.

Investigators found four growing rooms in the residence from which they
confiscated the plants with an estimated street value of about $420,000.

The couple were being held at the Placer County Jail in Auburn, where they
were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, marijuana
cultivation and conspiracy. They remained jailed Wednesday night on bail of
$100,000 each. Arraignment was set for todayat Tahoe Municipal Court in
Tahoe City.

Kubby, an author, online magazine publisher and outdoorsman, said during
the gubernatorial race that he smoked marijuana daily for medicinal
reasons. He played a key role in the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, which
legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes.

In denying the marijuana was intended for sale, the Kubbys' attorney, Dale
Wood of Truckee, said, "They have written recommendations from a California
physician recommending they use it for their medical conditions."