DRUG REFUGEES

Canada's Softball Narcotics Laws Are Drawing A New Type Of Immigrant

For more than 20 years, Steve Kubby has suffered with a rare and usually
fatal form of adrenal gland cancer.

Early on, doctors gave him six months to live, but 1998 found him still
alive, the Libertarian Party's candidate for Governor of California.
Meanwhile, he built a reputation as an outspoken advocate for medical
marijuana and told countless newspapers and television programs that the
weed has prolonged his life. According to his wife, Michelle, marijuana
"shrinks the tumor in his body. This is not for pain. It is literally to
hold the cancer at bay." To hold the law at bay, Mr. Kubby, 56, has had to
move north.

He now lives in Sechelt, on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast, where he has joined a
growing population of U.S. drug law refugees.

Steve Tuck, another ex- Californian, estimates the number at more than 100,
drawn by Canada's softer drug laws. "Refugees" is not a metaphor: both men
have claimed legal refugee status to help them stay here. Mr. Kubby took
refuge in Canada to escape American jail time. Auburn, California
authorities had little sympathy for his medical condition, and charged him
with marijuana possession and possession for sale, both felonies in the
U.S. At Trial, a doctor from the University of Southern California swore
that regular marijuana use was the only reason Mr. Kubby was still alive.

He was acquitted of the felony charges, but convicted on one misdemeanor
count of possessing a hallucinogenic mushroom.

He was sentenced to 120 days in jail, and authorities would not allow him
to bring his pot. Deciding the 120 days amounted to a "death sentence"
without his marijuana, he decided to flee the U.S. with his wife and two
small daughters. Denied permanent entry into Canada last month because of
his California drug conviction, Mr. Kubby filed a refugee claim.

He will remain in Canada until his immigration hearing, which may not be
until next year. He also faces Canadian charges of cultivating marijuana,
and possession for the purpose of trafficking, allegedly in connection with
160 marijuana plants found in his possession. That trial has also been
adjourned, possibly until next year. Mr. Tuck, a disabled army veteran,
recently allowed reporters to take a photo of the 115­square­foot room in
his house that he uses to grow marijuana, which he smokes for pain and
muscle spasms caused by a spinal injury.

Soon after, he was arrested by Canadian authorities. Last month he was
ordered to leave Canada voluntarily. He filed a refugee claim instead, and
can remain in Canada until his hearing. Another American, Ken Hayes, faces
several charges in the U.S. for growing pot and selling it through
marijuana clubs.

He was reportedly acquitted in 1999 on other charges relating to possession
of 899 pot plants he planned to sell through a club. He too lives in B.C.
and has filed a refugee claim. Whether the claims will succeed is anybody's
guess, but Renee Boje, another Sunshine Coast resident who said she uses
marijuana for strictly medicinal purposes, is optimistic. "Canada," she
told reporters, "has a history of protecting people from their own
governments."