[KUBBY HOME
PAGE] [AMERICAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA
ASSOCIATION] [PROP.
215]
The Auburn Journal
August 30, 2000
KUBBY SMOKES MARIJUANA WHILE
WAITING FOR PLACER COUNTY COURT TRIAL TO RESUME
By Jessica Towhey, jessicat@goldcountrymedia.com,
Journal Staff Writer
The unmistakable aroma of pot wafted through the air outside a North
Auburn courtroom Tuesday as a small group of medical marijuana users smoked
on a grassy patch a short stroll away from the Placer County District Attorney's
Office.
Led by Steven Kubby, a former gubernatorial candidate who with his wife
Michele faces 19 criminal counts of growing marijuana for sale, six persons
holding physicians' recommendations lit up joints in a demonstration that
provoked no reaction from law enforcement.
Kubby said before the exhibition he was prepared for the possibility
of being arrested for asserting his rights under the law to smoke marijuana
for medicinal purposes. Four years ago, state voters approved by a 55-45
percent margin the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which allows seriously
ill Californians to possess and smoke marijuana with the recommendation
of a doctor.
Joining Kubby were Jane Weirick, director of St. Martin's Dispensary
in San Francisco, and Florida resident Elvy Musikka, one of only eight
people in the country enrolled in a federal medical marijuana program.
"Medicate, guys!" Michele Kubby, who did not participate in the demonstration,
said to her husband and friends as each inhaled from joints that closely
resembled cigarettes in shape and size.
Before striking a match, Steven Kubby said he planned the demonstration
to educate the public as to the medicinal properties of the illicit drug.
Kubby was diagnosed 20 years ago with malignant pheochromocytoma, a rare
form of adrenal cancer that causes the adrenaline in his body to rise to
life-threatening levels.
Kubby said he has tried conventional medical treatments, but claims
only marijuana holds the symptoms of the cancer in check. To that end,
Kubby maintains he must smoke roughly every hour and a half.
Federal program enrollee Musikka, who lost an eye to conventional treatment
for glaucoma 24 years ago, said she receives upwards of 10 joints a day
from a pharmacy contracted to provide the Schedule 1 drug. She said she
prefers to smoke just half the amount she receives, though, saving the
rest for her baking.
"This is my medicine," she said, extending a large pill bottle filled
with joints roughly a quarter inch thick and about 4 inches long.
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Gene Gini, one of two county attorneys
prosecuting the Kubbys, declined to comment on the political exercise because
of the pending litigation. However, prosecutors have argued the 265 marijuana
plants confiscated from the couple's Olympic Valley home last January were
intended for sale. Prosecutors content that part of the proof is contained
in personal bank account records that show an influx of more than $100,000
in mostly cash with few checks over 18 months, prosecutors said.
Additionally, investigators in the case have connected Jeff Jones of
the Oakland Buyers' Cooperative to the checks.
The Kubbys have denied all allegations of criminal activity.
-------------------
Pubdate: Wed, 30 August 2000
Source: Auburn Journal (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Auburn Journal
Contact: Jessica Towhey <jessicat@goldcountrymedia.com>
Address: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603
Website: http://www.auburnjournal.com/
Author: Jessica R. Towhey, Journal Staff Writer
Phone: (530) 885-6585, ext. 143
Note: This story also ran prominently on KCRA TV, the largest
station in
Northern California.
[KUBBY HOME
PAGE] [AMERICAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA
ASSOCIATION] [PROP.
215]