FORCED OUT OF CANADA?

Steve Kubby, 55, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor of California,
was a leading force behind the passage of that year's referendum which
legalized medical marijuana there.

But it was after voters approved Proposition 215 that California police
broke into Kubby's Lake Tahoe home, busting him and his wife Michele for
growing what they contended was "too much" marijuana.

(Kubby asked them not to frighten his young daughter by breaking into his
home with guns drawn -- saying he'd gladly show them his marijuana plants
at any time. He tells me he sent this message to police by placing a note
in his trash can. Police introduced the note at his trial.)

After Kubby explained why he needed to maintain more than 200 plants in
various stages of growth at his Lake Tahoe home to successfully breed the
strains which keep his adrenalin levels below toxic levels, his California
jury in 2001 unanimously acquitted the Kubbys of any wrongdoing for their
marijuana cultivation. They did, however, convict Kubby on a minor related
charge after police found a dried-up hallucinogenic mushroom stem or cactus
button (police were never sure which) in a drawer in a guest bedroom of the
house.

Needless to say, rather than instructing the jurors of their irreversible
power to decide that this law and its application were wacky, the trial
judge told them they had no choice but to enforce the law.

An adrenal cancer survivor who has received medical advice that he could
die if incarcerated as long as four days without his quasi-legal
medication, Kubby has been living in Canada rather than submit to a
court-ordered 120-day California jail sentence on the dried-up vegetable
charge.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, whom Kubby describes as having
been "made to look ridiculous" in a 1998 debate with the Libertarian
candidate, seems to have taken on the Kubby case as a personal vendetta,
labeling Kubby a "fugitive" and successfully intervening with the court to
get Kubby's misdemeanor conviction upgraded to a felony, after the fact.

Canadian sources say it's Kubby's continuing high profile in the pot
legalization movement -- founded the American Medical Marijuana
Association; he and Michele host Canada's Vancouver-based Internet-based
Pot-TV news -- that has led to pressure on Canadian authorities from "south
of the border" to crack down on the Kubbys, after they invited press
photographers to tour their home last year, resulting in the publication of
photos of the medical marijuana they grow there.

On Dec. 20, Michele Kubby wrote me from Sechelt, British Columbia:

"The Kubby family could be forced by Immigration officials to leave Canada
as early as Jan. 15.

"Initially we were optimistic that our appeal would be heard (and) we were
not at any imminent danger. We even told reporters and friends not to worry
about us. However, now that we've had a chance to obtain competent legal
advice, we finally realize just how serious and precarious our plight has
become.

"Although we have filed an appeal with the federal court of Canada, we've
just learned that the judge has the right to refuse to hear the case. We
are supposed to have the right to a full hearing before an independent
board, but the Immigration Ministry has not yet created an Appeal Board and
we are caught in the middle.

"We're very concerned that we will be forced to leave Canada without a fair
hearing."

The Kubbys said they have been assured by immigration officials that before
forcing them to return to the United States, they will have a
risk-assessment evaluation. But Michele Kubby is not optimistic.

"Immigration has done everything they can to have us removed from Canada
and we don't expect any favors in the risk-assessment process. Furthermore,
(our attorney) John Conroy has advised us that this decision has painted us
into a legal corner and there's not much he can do to help us.

"For the past five years, I've watched one judge after another refuse to
protect my husband. I don't have much hope that this next judge will be any
different. At this point, we can only hope that our plight will shock the
conscience of Canadians and that somehow this terrible and unjust decision
by the Refugee Board will get an honest and fair review.

"The continued abuse of 'due process' is wearing Steve down. How can these
judges and government officials look at themselves in the mirror when my
husband is suffering so? Why can't a judge simply say that Steve Kubby is a
bona fide cancer patient and that he deserves to be left alone? It's like
these officials are saying, 'Merry Christmas; now get out of our country.'

"We believe this recent decision by the Refugee Board is a fraud that
cannot stand up to a proper judicial review. The evidence on our side is
overwhelming. It was their doctor, not ours, who said Steve would die if
deprived of medical marijuana for more than 48 hours. The Refugee Board
even heard from a former U.S. prosecutor and sitting judge that it was not
safe for Steve to return. And still they refuse to believe what was in
front of their own eyes. Truly, none are so blind as those who refuse to see."

Michele Kubby says that those who wish to help can contribute online at:
www.kubby.com/00-contribute.html.

Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Review-Journal
and author of the books "Send in the Waco Killers" and "The Ballad of Carl
Drega." His Web site is www.privacyalert.us.