As investigators of the North Tahoe Task Force poured over details of the couple’s lives for evidence of marijuana violations, the Kubbys, tipped off about the investigation, tied up the loose ends of their growing operation.

Launched by an anonymous letter claiming the former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was financing his campaign by selling marijuana, the investigation climaxed Jan. 19 with the arrest of Steve and Michele Kubby on various marijuana charges.
(Marijuananews note: For a moment, let’s ignore the whole medical marijuana question and remember that for six months the police from multiple jurisdictions watched the home of a political candidate in hopes of finding something incriminating, based on accusations in an unsigned letter.

Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people. Marijuana does not suppress medical research. Marijuana does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.)

Now, the Kubbys face charges of cultivating marijuana in their Olympic Valley home, conspiracy and possession with intent to sell. A preliminary conference is set for Feb. 22 in Tahoe Superior Court.

The case promises to become the highest-profile test to date of California’s Proposition 215, the initiative voters approved in 1996 authorizing the use of marijuana with a physician’s approval. Steve Kubby, who has adrenal cancer and was instrumental in qualifying Proposition 215 for the ballot, openly espoused the use of medicinal marijuana in the governor’s race last year. Kubby finished fourth, receiving 1 percent of the vote.

According to court documents filed by the multi-agency North Tahoe Task Force, the investigation included interviews of Kubby associates, surveillance of the couple’s home, checking their household trash and an analysis of their utility bills. But, no sooner than the anonymous letter from Marina del Rey piqued the interest of the drug task force, then the Kubbys were tipped off an investigation had begun.

"They underestimated our political contacts, our influence and our friends in the medicinal marijuana movement," said Michele Kubby during an interview at the couple’s Olympic Valley home.
See
California Libertarians Form Prop. 215 Blue Ribbon Committee In Wake of Kubby Arrests

Producing evidence of the Kubbys’ marijuana garden was easy for members of the task force, which includes law-enforcement officials from Placer County, the state of Nevada and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Intercepting the Kubbys’ household trash, investigators found stems, seeds, leafy marijuana residue, partially smoked marijuana cigarettes and packaging for such cultivation supplies as powerful sodium light bulbs, plant vitamins and diagrams of lighting systems. Also found in the household trash were flyers addressed to law-enforcement personnel, advising them of Steve Kubby’s use of medicinal marijuana, maintenance of a garden, possession of no more than 3.5 pounds of pot and his cancer condition.

Christopher Cattran, a Placer County deputy district attorney assigned to the Lake Tahoe office, said he was not impressed by the Kubbys’ reliance on Proposition 215. "My review of 215 is that (they had) more marijuana than necessitated by a medical condition," Cattran said Tuesday.

"And there is some evidence that they furnished it to another individuals observed during the surveillance."
(Marijuananews note: What they saw was Steve Kubby showing his plants to journalist Pete Brady, who was also subsequently arrested . Contributions to Brady's defense fund can be sent to Lynn Wilson, P.O. Box 5354, Chico, Ca. 95927)
See
Arrest Of California Cannabis Journalist Shows That The War On Medical Marijuana
Has Become A War on The First Amendment -- Analysis By Richard Cowan

Cattran said he visited the Kubbys’ house while the task force searched the residence to get a feel for the growing operation. Investigators seized 256 plants, about half of which were seedlings, in four different rooms. When officers knocked on their door on a Tuesday morning, the Kubbys were ready. As the task force searched the house, seizing plants, lights, their computer, passports and other items, the Kubbys provided letters from a physician, attorney and the president of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative who had inspected their garden.

In the wake of their arrest, the Kubbys insist they are the perfect defendants to overcome police and prosecutor opposition to Proposition 215. They deny selling any of the marijuana they harvested, and point to their modest financial circumstances: $4,800 in savings and a 10-year-old car as proof their only income is derived from Steve Kubby’s online magazine, Alpine World.

"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."

See
After Interview With Steve Kubby, Orange County Weekly Says
Arresting Him "May Have Been Prop 215 Opponents' Worst Mistake"

Placer County Undersheriff Steve D’Arcy said he interprets the Proposition 215 guidelines issued by former Attorney General Dan Lungren differently. "I don’t think so," D’Arcy said about the Kubbys becoming a high-visibility test case. "There have been other cases before where marijuana growers were selling it and used Proposition 215 as a defense."

Cattran was less certain. "We want to see justice done," Cattran said. "If it turns out ... a jury decides that 265 plants are all right, then that’s justice. But if the jury decides it’s just too much, justice is done then, too."