News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: US Pot 'Exile' To Seek Refugee Status |
| Title: | CN BC: US Pot 'Exile' To Seek Refugee Status |
| Published On: | 2002-05-26 |
| Source: | Coast Reporter (CN BC) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-23 06:39:19 |
U.S. POT 'EXILE' TO SEEK REFUGEE STATUS
Sunshine Coast pot "exiles" Steve and Michele Kubby say they have no plans
to leave Sechelt, despite receiving a departure order telling Steve Kubby
to return to the U.S.
"We are not going to go back to the States," said Michele Kubby, following
an immigration hearing in Vancouver May 17. Kubby said instead the couple
will stay on the Sunshine Coast and apply for political refugee status, as
members of a persecuted social group - medicinal marijuana users.
Kubby said the couple also plan to appeal her husband's California
conviction for possessing a trace amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms to the
California Supreme Court. U.S. officials want Steve Kubby, 56, to return to
the U.S. to serve a four-month jail sentence for that.
The Kubbys maintain that isn't possible, because U.S. officals won't allow
Kubby access to the marijuana which the couple say he needs for
pain relief of his adrenal gland cancer.
"They've been completely cunical about his need for medicinal marijuana,"
said Michele Kubby.
The Kubbys' application for refugee status is expected to take at least a
year and could take a lot longer, as has been the case with Renee Boje,
another U.S. "pot exile" living on the Coast, who has been waiting several
years for a final decision on her political refugee status. U.S. officials
are seeking to have Boje extradited to face marijuana charges there.
Steve and Michele Kubby moved to the Sunshine Coast last year with their
children, aged six and two. Immigration officals issued a warrant for Steve
Kubby after the couple came to the attention of Sechelt police in media
reports about their medicinal marijuana cause.
The couple also currently face criminal charges of production of a
controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in
connection with 160 plants police seized from their home in Sechelt in April.
Steve Kubby was previously charged by police for growing pot in San
Francisco but succeeded in getting substantial charges against him
dismissed. The couple are well-known in California as advocates for
legalization of medicinal marijuana.
Sunshine Coast pot "exiles" Steve and Michele Kubby say they have no plans
to leave Sechelt, despite receiving a departure order telling Steve Kubby
to return to the U.S.
"We are not going to go back to the States," said Michele Kubby, following
an immigration hearing in Vancouver May 17. Kubby said instead the couple
will stay on the Sunshine Coast and apply for political refugee status, as
members of a persecuted social group - medicinal marijuana users.
Kubby said the couple also plan to appeal her husband's California
conviction for possessing a trace amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms to the
California Supreme Court. U.S. officials want Steve Kubby, 56, to return to
the U.S. to serve a four-month jail sentence for that.
The Kubbys maintain that isn't possible, because U.S. officals won't allow
Kubby access to the marijuana which the couple say he needs for
pain relief of his adrenal gland cancer.
"They've been completely cunical about his need for medicinal marijuana,"
said Michele Kubby.
The Kubbys' application for refugee status is expected to take at least a
year and could take a lot longer, as has been the case with Renee Boje,
another U.S. "pot exile" living on the Coast, who has been waiting several
years for a final decision on her political refugee status. U.S. officials
are seeking to have Boje extradited to face marijuana charges there.
Steve and Michele Kubby moved to the Sunshine Coast last year with their
children, aged six and two. Immigration officals issued a warrant for Steve
Kubby after the couple came to the attention of Sechelt police in media
reports about their medicinal marijuana cause.
The couple also currently face criminal charges of production of a
controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in
connection with 160 plants police seized from their home in Sechelt in April.
Steve Kubby was previously charged by police for growing pot in San
Francisco but succeeded in getting substantial charges against him
dismissed. The couple are well-known in California as advocates for
legalization of medicinal marijuana.
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