CALIFORNIA MEN FACE HEARING IN CANADA

Suspects Being Sought By U.S. Officials In Drug Cases May Be Deported

Canadian police have arrested two medical marijuana activists who had fled
north to avoid drug charges in California, alleging they had violated
Canadian immigration law.

Humboldt County pot grower Steve Tuck and Steve Kubby, 1998 Libertarian
Party California gubernatorial candidate, are in custody after being
arrested Tuesday at their homes in British Columbia.

They face hearings today to determine whether they should be allowed to
stay in Canada, said a spokesman for Canada's immigration service.

Both men have previously said they would seek political refugee status in
Canada if the United States asked for their extradition, or if Canada
attempted to deport them.

Alex Stojicevic, a Canadian immigration attorney representing both men,
said Canadian officials have decided Kubby and Tuck are "inadmissable to
Canada" because of their legal troubles in the United States.

Tuck, 35, faces six felony pot charges in Humboldt County. He fled to
Canada in July.

Kubby, 56, who moved to Canada in March with his family, is battling peyote
possession charges stemming from a 1999 raid at his Placer County home. He
also faces probation violation charges.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer is appealing a Placer County judge's decision
to reduce the peyote conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor.

A California appellate court ruled last week that unless Kubby returned to
California within 30 days, he would lose his right to argue against
Lockyer's appeal.

Stojicevic said he'll ask for the men to be released from custody today and
will try to postpone the deportation hearings. He said in Kubby's case, he
will argue the peyote charges wouldn't be considered a criminal offense in
Canada, and shouldn't warrant deportation.

Tuck's case, he said, "is more complicated," because he's charged with
crimes that would warrant punishment in Canada.

Kubby was a fund-raiser for California's 1996 Proposition 215, which
legalized medical pot use with a doctor's approval. From British Columbia,
he has been a vocal opponent of the U.S. war on drugs.