MEDICAL MARIJUANA CRUSADER ARRESTED ON HIS RETURN TO CALIFORNIA

RICHMOND - Medical marijuana crusader Steve Kubby was arrested
Thursday night at San Francisco Airport after spending years as a
fugitive in Canada.

Kubby was arrested on a no-bail warrant and booked into San Mateo
County jail, San Francisco police said.

There was an emotional farewell earlier when Kubby's supporters and
family were at Vancouver International Airport as he boarded a flight
to California escorted by his American lawyer Bill McPike who said,
"The officials in Canada might be sending him back to a death sentence."

Kubby said he was concerned about heading back to a place that
doesn't understand his medicinal need for pot. "The thought of people
having an open animosity towards me, people that want to harm me,
that want to bury their mistakes, that's very distressing," he said.

Kubby, 58, and his wife Michele had been fighting to stay in Canada
almost since they arrived from the U.S. in 2001.

Kubby attempted to claim Canadian refugee status on the basis of
persecution, both for his political opinion and his medicinal use of
pot, which he said he smokes to alleviate symptoms of a rare adrenal cancer.

In rejecting the refugee claim, Paulah Dauns of the Immigration and
Refugee Board said she didn't believe his life was at risk if Kubby
was returned to the United States.

Michele Kubby is also subject to deportation but was granted an
extension to move their family.