JAILED MEDIPOT ACTIVIST WITHDRAWS REQUEST TO BE SERVED MARIJUANA

Steve Kubby's Attorney Says Symptoms Subsiding for Now

The attorney for incarcerated medical marijuana advocate Steven Kubby
pulled his client's motion to have the substance administered to him
in jail Friday.

Kubby, who has been in Placer County Jail since Jan. 27, filed a
motion requesting marijuana-laced food be served to him in jail.
Kubby contends he must have marijuana daily in order to survive and
stave off the affects of a rare form of adrenal cancer.

However, at a hearing in a Placer County courtroom Friday, Kubby's
attorney Bill McPike told Judge Robert McElhany that he was dropping
the motion.

"His blood pressure has stabilized so we're asking to take the motion
off the calendar for today," he said.

Kubby's request for marijuana could be put back on the calendar at a
later date, McPike said.

The Sheriff's Department, which operates the jail, has opposed that
motion in documents filed in Placer County Superior Court. County
counsel maintains that Kubby has not provided any support to his
claim that only medical marijuana will treat his medical condition
and that Kubby is asking the courts to "simply take his word for it."

They also contend existing law does not require medical marijuana be
provided to jail inmates.

Kubby is currently receiving the drug Marinol from jail medical
staff, who are available to him around the clock.

Kubby, who is currently serving a 120-day sentence for a 2000 drug
conviction on charges of possession of mescaline and psilocybin, fled
with his family to Canada to avoid incarceration. He now faces
increased penalties for violating probation.

His wife, Michele, arrived at the jail Friday with their 8- and
6-year-old daughters. The family made its first appearance in court
since being forced out of Canada, where Canadian Border Services had
rejected the family's bid for protection.

Michele Kubby hugged supporters outside the jail Friday before
addressing numerous TV, print and radio reporters.

She said she saw her husband Thursday night and was encouraged to
hear his blood pressure was under control with his Marinol treatment.
He looked thin, she said, but his eyes were clear and he was in good spirits.

"This is an experiment that has been forced upon us and I'm grateful
it's working," Michele Kubby said. "It is cruel and unusual
punishment for a family to have the father die over a minute, innocent crime."

She said her husband's treatment by the Placer County Sheriff's
Department was "clearly retaliatory." Sheriff's Department officials
have said they are treating Kubby humanely.

Although Friday's court proceedings were very brief, they drew
supporters from as far away as San Francisco.

Compassionate-use supporters held a prayer vigil for Kubby before the
hearing. Some displayed memorial quilts of people they said died from
being denied access to medical marijuana.

The next pre-trial hearing, scheduled for Feb. 15, would set a date
for his trial on probation violation charges, Kubby's attorney McPike said.

Kubby could admit to violating his probation and be offered two
options for sentencing, said prosecuting Deputy District Attorney
Chris Cattran. He did not want to elaborate further on those options Friday.

"If he doesn't want to admit we would have another hearing, which he
is entitled to," Cattran said. "The burden of proof would be on my
office to present sufficient evident that he in fact violated probation."