San Jose Paper Gives Great
Coverage To Kubby Appearance At Libertarian Party Convention
EX-CANDIDATE DEFENDS DRUG USE
(Marijuananews note: Headlines are usually not written by the author
of the article. As is often the case, the headline tells us more about the media than
about the subject. For example, see
The
Oregonian Puts Prohibitionist Spin On Headline For Straight Story About New Medical
Marijuana Laws )February 15, 1999
From The San Jose Mercury News
letters@sjmercury.com
http://www.sjmercury.com/
By BECKY BARTINDALE, Mercury News Staff Writer
Arrest: Kubby says marijuana was used only for medicinal purposes.
See
Tahoe Paper Carries
Front Page Article Laying Out The Battle Lines In The Kubby Case:
"We think this will be the ‘Scopes Monkey Trial’ of medical
marijuana," said Steve Kubby.
"This entire clash of cultures and ideology will be on the table."
Locked arm-in-arm, Steve and Michelle Kubby told an appreciative Sunday evening crowd
in San Jose about how their surveillance and arrest for growing medicinal marijuana in
their basement has changed their lives.
Ironically, the Libertarian candidate in last year’s
governor’s race may end up attracting more attention for his arrest in Olympic Valley
last month than he did during his campaign.
See
After Interview With
Steve Kubby, Orange County Weekly Says
Arresting Him "May Have Been Prop 215 Opponents' Worst Mistake"
The Kubbys, who publish an online magazine, (www.alpworld.com ) were among a handful of prominent speakers over
four days at the Libertarian Party’s 1999 state convention, which ends today at the
San Jose Doubletree Hotel. They were greeted Sunday night with a
standing ovation, then hushed the crowd with details of being charged with cultivating
marijuana, conspiracy and possession with intent to sell.
See
California
Libertarians Give Steve Kubby An Award At Annual Convention; Issue Press Release
There were no sales," Kubby said; the 256 marijuana plants that were seized were
for their own use.
"There was no way economically we could stop growing his medicine," Michelle
Kubby said.
The Kubbys had more marijuana "than necessitated by a medical condition,"
Placer County prosecutor Christoper Cattran has been quoted as saying.
Now the Kubbys’ supporters are talking about mounting a
recall against Placer County District Attorney Bradford Fenocchio, who is prosecuting the
couple. "We are looking into all our legal options," Priscilla Falconi, the
Placer County Libertarian Party chairwoman, said after the Kubbys spoke Sunday.
Both Kubbys use medicinal marijuana; they call it their "medicine."
Michelle Kubby said she uses it as an anti-spasmodic for irritable bowel syndrome.
Steve Kubby has a rare form of adrenal cancer. The marijuana helps control his blood
pressure, helping protect against stroke and aneurysms, his wife said.
Steve Kubby helped qualify Proposition 215 for the ballot, and in 1996 California
voters approved the measure allowing distribution of marijuana to seriously ill patients.
But the Clinton administration, and the state under former Attorney General Dan Lungren,
claimed the proposition conflicts with federal drug laws.
Kubby turned over most of his time Sunday to his wife, who talked
with emotion about what their family has been through. She began her tale with the Jan. 19
raid on the couple’s rented home in Olympic Valley.
Authorities began their investigation after receiving an anonymous letter last fall saying
Kubby was growing thousands of plants and selling marijuana to finance his campaign. It
culminated in the search of their home.
"We have no business anymore," Michelle Kubby said of their online magazine.
They have taken our computer, our printer, our digital scanner. They took all our plants,
all our (plant growing) lights. They’ve taken a lot from us. . . .They’ve
destroyed our business and our life."
Michelle Kubby said she’d had a miscarriage in September, "perhaps because of
the terror and stress from surveillance."
Steve Kubby said he was tipped to the investigation almost immediately and would leave
notes to investigators in the family trash, which was being searched.
"Whoever wrote that letter put us and the Libertarian Party on the map,"
Kubby said.
Michelle Kubby said she believes that the person who wrote the letter "was close
to us," and thus sees it as a "betrayal."
The worst part of their ordeal, she said, was time in the Auburn
jail, where she could hear her husband vomiting but she was not allowed to see him.
"This medicine (marijuana) is what keeps him alive," she said. Without it, she
said, "they almost killed him."
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Supported