DOCTORS WEIGH IN ON EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDIPOT

Medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby contends if he is returned to
the United States and not allowed to smoke marijuana daily he will
die, but doctors differ on whether all the pot Kubby smokes is really
good for his health.

Kubby's Canadian doctor said the one-time California gubernatorial
candidate smokes cannabis to alleviate symptoms of his adrenal cancer.

"(Kubby's) kind of cancer, metastatic pheochromocytoma, releases
adrenaline into the blood and these drugs speed up your heart making
your body run faster," said Dr. Joe Connors, a medical oncologist for
British Columbia Cancer Agency in a telephone interview Thursday.
"His tumors make excessive amounts of these substances."

Connors said that too much adrenaline keeps Kubby's body in a
constant state of "flight or fight."

"He found that smoking marijuana (helps)," Connors said. "(Without
it) the stress to his cardiovascular system could result in stroke, a
heart attack or even death."

Dr. Fred Meyers, professor and chair of the Department of Internal
Medicine for UC Davis Medical Center, said Thursday that metastatic
pheochromocytoma is a "very rare" type of cancer.

He said that the cancer is usually associated with benign tumors and
rarely becomes cancerous. Additionally, there are no effective
anti-cancer drugs. Metastatic pheochromocytoma is in many situations
considered incurable, he said.

Meyers said there is no medical proof that smoking marijuana cures or
alleviates the symptoms of the adrenal cancer that Kubby is said to have.

"I haven't examined him, but I don't believe marijuana blocks the
effects of the cancer," Meyers said. "People do die of cancer.
(Kubby) could die if either the cancer spreads or the epinephrine
(similar to adrenaline) will be made is such large amount that he'll die."

In an ironic twist, Kubby was once roommates with one of the 1970s
pop culture marijuana icons, Cheech Marin.

Decades ago, Kubby said he was pretty straight and hanging out with
Marin while the two attended Cal State Northridge.

"Cheech came to visit me when I learned I had as little as six months
to live," Kubby said. "I smoked pot with him and to my complete
astonishment my symptoms were gone for a day or two. It brought my
blood pressure down. It was unbelievable to me."

Dr. Meyers disagrees with the medical marijuana miracle.

"Marijuana does not keep the blood pressure down," he said.

As the Kubby family fights to stay in Canada, Kubby said he will
continue to grow and smoke the marijuana he contends he needs to stay alive.