MEDIPOT ADVOCATE GETS EARLY RELEASE FROM JAIL

Placer County Jail officials released medical-marijuana activist
Steve Kubby after he served one-third of his 120-day sentence because
of overcrowding and his good behavior.

"He received credit for time served and was released early because of
our overcrowding situation," Capt. John Fitzgerald, commander of the
jail, said Tuesday.

Kubby, 59, has been incarcerated since returning to the United States
from Canada after leaving the country to avoid a 120-day jail sentence in 2000.

The jail is federally mandated to release inmates when it reaches a
90-percent capacity to avoid reaching 100 percent capacity of 540 inmates.

"We start with our first order of release on a scale from one to 10,"
he said. "For example, petty theft of something with a value less
than $400 is a misdemeanor. That type of person would be the first
we'd look at for releasing."

The scale ranges from a level 1- a fresh arrest for a misdemeanor -
to a level 5, misdemeanor warrant arrest for assault, and level 10 -
felony warrant arrest for felony property crimes except burglary.

"Kubby's charge of possession of drugs is a non-violent crime and
fell toward the lower range of the scale," Fitzgerald said. "We
treated him the same as we treat anybody else in his position."

Kubby walked out of the jail a free man - at least for now.

He is scheduled to return to Placer County Superior Court March 14 to
address his violation of probation charges.

Kubby, dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, stopped by the Auburn
Journal offices Tuesday morning. He said he'll be staying in the
Auburn area at least until his next court date. His wife, Michele,
and their two young daughters are staying with Michele's parents in Laguna.

Kubby said his incarceration and paying for his medication and legal
counsel have taken its toll financially.

"It's been very difficult. But we're finding that we have a lot of
friends that have helped us," he said.

While in jail, Kubby was supplied with Marinol, a synthetic form of
THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

"The Marinol costs $65 a day. For 40 days that's quite a bit of
money," Kubby said.

Donations were collected for his medication.

It was Kubby's ex-wife who handled the solicitation of funds for the Marinol.

"I think I tapped out everybody," Rebecca Maidman, Kubby's ex-wife,
said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "It was great they came through."

She said she's pleased that her ex-husband has been released from custody.

Additionally, Kubby has solicited donations via his Web site since
leaving the United States for Canada.

"That is for his defense fund," Maidman said. "Michele said they are
about $35,000 in debt from paying for his legal counsel."

Michele Kubby could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

While in Canada, Kubby said he supported himself and his family while
still finding time to ski more than 600,000 vertical feet in a year,
in 2005. He said he skied on million vertical feet in 2004 and he
appeared regularly on TV.

"I produced POT TV news and we did CDs for medical marijuana
patients," Kubby said.

Kubby was convicted in 2000 for possession of psilocybin and
mescaline and was ordered to serve 120 days in jail. He left
California for Canada and failed to return as ordered. He was
arrested in January after being deported from Canada.

Kubby contends he must use marijuana daily in order to stave off the
affects of a rare form of adrenal cancer that he says he has battled
for 30 years.

"There are tumors and they are malignant," Kubby said. "I've been
told I shouldn't (have) survived more than two years."

In spite of harsh criticism from Kubby supporters during his
incarceration, Kubby said "things have changed" in jail since his
original incarceration in 1999.

In a letter dated Feb. 8 to jail staff, and sent to the Auburn
Journal, Kubby apologized to the staff for any negative publicity
they received during his incarceration.

"I am currently receiving excellent care here and have developed a
profound respect for the professional and highly dedicated staff and
officers here," Kubby wrote.

As for his plans for the future, Kubby seemed uncertain.

"I have a business plan, but I hate to talk about things before I do
them," he said. "I won't be out of the media cyclone for awhile."

As part of his probation Kubby is required to check in with his
probation officer monthly and alert them if he intends to leave California.