Steve Kubby, Medical Marijuana Advocate Arrested in San Francisco

[I.M. Boggled]

L.A. Times
Friday, January 27, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO --

Medical marijuana crusader Steve Kubby, a former Laguna Beach resident who was a 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor and one of the authors of California's watershed medical marijuana law, was in custody today.

He was arrested today at San Francisco International Airport after spending five years as a fugitive in Canada to escape a jail sentence here.

Kubby was sentenced in March 2001 to four months in jail by a Placer County judge for possession of a peyote button and a hallucinogenic mushroom after jurors acquitted him of the more serious charges that he was selling pot grown in his basement medical marijuana garden.

The peyote and mushroom were in his possession, Kubby said, for an artist's rendering to be used in a book he wrote on the drug war while living in Olympic Valley, just north of Lake Tahoe.

Amid wrangling with authorities over his sentence, Kubby moved with his family to British Columbia in May 2001.

Kubby says he needs marijuana to curb symptoms of a rare type of adrenal cancer and says he will suffer and die without it in jail. Jailhouse use of medical marijuana is not allowed in California, where voters in 1996 approved the nation's first law allowing the use of cannabis as medicine with a doctor's recommendation.

Around the time Kubby moved to Canada, judges in Placer County ordered his original misdemeanor convictions converted to felonies. Kubby, who says he now could face up to three years behind bars, has appealed those rulings, which he calls a miscarriage of justice.

Kubby also worries that prosecutors will attempt to extend his jail stay because he left the country and was declared a fugitive.

"They don't want to admit it's political," Kubby said of officials in Placer County. "I committed the unpardonable sin of helping pass a medical marijuana law that police and prosecutors hate."

"The officials in Canada might be sending him back to a death sentence," Bill McPike, Kubby's U.S. lawyer, said last week when his client was cleared for deportation from Canada.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Crimes of Pot Justice
When marijuana arrests might be death sentences
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=330036#post330036

 

[I.M. Boggled]

An Update from Michele Kubby

An Update from Michele Kubby

an update on Steve’s status, here is the e-mail she sent out to friends and supporters:

I just spoke with Steve for the first time this evening since 4 pm on Thursday, while he waited for his flight.

He got booked into the Placer jail late this afternoon. He is currently being housed in the infirmary. Through the good graces of Dr. Tod Mikuriya, financial help from gracious funders and dedicated locals in Auburn, I was able to procure Marinol for Steve.

When Steve first entered the jail, his blood pressure had risen to 170/120. The jail medical staff were concerned and administered the Marinol. Steve says he feels his blood pressure lowering, but he can tell that Marinol is not going to be effective in the long run. Dr. Connors, Steve’s BC Cancer Agency doctor, spoke with the LA Times and told them that Marinol will not be effective if he needs to take it for awhile because he needs the cannabinoids. Dr. Connors also cautioned that Steve could be in severe danger in a short amount of time if he is not protected from the chemicals flowing through his body.

Steve sounds strong, now. This arrest was different from the previous two because he was prepared. Bill McPike got him ready to be arrested upon his arrival so, being prepared, the stress was less.

You see, what is so challenging about his disease is that when he has a flight or fright stress response, the adrenal chemicals that have gotten stored in his nervous system are released. It is this sudden release of these deadly chemicals during a stressful situation that cause the life threatening situations.

It is difficult to get law enforcement to understand medical marijuana and the needs of med pot patients. I can understand why there is a lack of understanding, law enforcement are not trained in the medical profession.

In prison, law enforcement has had different reactions to Steve. Some are sympathetic, others go out of their way to remind him that he no longer has any rights and is a prisoner. Some completely ignore that Steve has a medical problem and needs special care. One female officer would not let Steve cover himself with blanket while she interrogated him, even though he teeth were chattering and the blanket was sitting right next to him. When Steve gets chills, he is inclined to get pneumonia.

Mostly though, it is the ignorance of a medical marijuana patient’s needs that is the biggest hurdle to overcome. It is as if we live in parallel universes and we don’t want to cross the line to understand each other. This misunderstanding is what is causing so much pain and suffering.

I can only hope that our particular situation can shed light on the darkness surrounding this issue. Steve is willing to put his life on the line so that others will not have too.

We are truly blessed that we have such wonderful supporters and friends. So many others have suffered far worse abuse than Steve and I have - in silence. I just hope that, through shedding light on our suffering, others will be able to be spared what we are going through. I have given up wondering why there is such a violent reaction to someone peacefully puffing on a cannabis cigarette, if I didn’t, I think I would go insane with the absurdity of it all.

Steve only gets one free phone call, I’m not sure when I will hear from him again.

Currently, he is scheduled to have an arraignment hearing in Placer at 1 pm on Tuesday, January 31st.

This hearing is going to be an arraignment hearing on his misdemeanor violation of probation. Bill McPike, Steve’s attorney, has indicated that Cattran, the prosecutor, will probably ask for more time.

I will not be able to attend. I have many duties trying to pack up our old life and wait around to find out what our new life will be like. In the end, it is the family on the outside who suffers the most. Our house seems empty and chill. As soon as I saw Steve’s clothes scattered about like he is apt to do, I burst into tears. I don’t know how this will end, but I believe that it will be alright.

I am going to be offline after Monday, I’m not sure when I’ll be up again. I can be reached all weekend via e-mail.

I couldn’t do this without all of your good wishes and support. Thank you for being there.

-Michele

 

[guest3854]

I feel fer Steve . Hell , he lived in tha county , up from me . But what tha fuck was he thinkin ? Over 200 plants ? And shit , if I had bailed tha country , I sure wouldnt have come back so high profile , like a fuckin rock star .

 

[I.M. Boggled]

The Evil War on Drugs
Source:
http://www.anthonygregory.com/

Speak out too loudly against the drug war,
and you might be targeted.
Peter McWilliams had AIDS and cancer and was dependent on marijuana to stay alive. It turns out that the people who had been using the stuff medicinally for thousands of years were onto something. No one has ever been recorded as dying from the physiological effects of marijuana. But the federal government wouldn’t let McWilliams, a vocal anti-prohibition activist, have his medicine. They threatened to take his mother’s house away if he used the substance that was keeping him alive. He was found dead in his home in June 2000. The drug war killed him directly.

And now Steve Kubby is in jail, being deprived of the medical marijuana that has kept him alive.
About a quarter-century ago, he was diagnosed with an exceedingly rare strain of adrenal cancer that no one else has been able to survive for more than five years. He was expected to die within the same timeframe. His physician, Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, an expert on this rare condition, has credited marijuana with saving his life. Several years ago, Kubby was forcefully deprived of his medicine for three days in jail, during which he suffered extreme vomiting and shivering and went temporarily blind in one eye. In U.S. custody again, after having taken refuge in Canada and being extradited back to the Land of the Free, he now has a good chance of dying, of being murdered by the state, all so it can make an example of this courageous anti-drug war activist.

For Kubby, as was the case for McWilliams, prohibition of life-saving medicine could prove a cruel and unusual execution, all for the non-crime of self-medication, the right to which all humans are born with. Apparently, he has been allowed to use some Marinol, but the synthetic THC simply isn’t a replacement for the complex mixture of cannabinoids in marijuana. Smoking about twelve grams of pot a day has worked for him, allowing him to live a healthy life; the government’s approved version does not quite do the trick, though it might barely be keeping death away. It is very uncertain at this point what will come of his health and legal situation.

The drug war is misdirected.
It is foolish.
It is stupid, unworkable, disastrous, tragic and sad.
But beyond all that it is evil.

The drug war is grounded in an evil premise: that people do not own their bodies, that they have no right to control what they do with their own lives and their own property, that it is appropriate to lock them in cages if they produce, distribute or consume chemicals in defiance of the state.

This is a monstrosity. As long as America has the drug war, it is not a free country. Politicians who support it and expand it, knowing the evils it entails, have no business lecturing us on morality.

The ideology of the war on drugs is the ideology of totalitarianism, of communism, of fascism and of slavery. In practice, it has made an utter mockery of the rule of law and the often-spouted idea that America is the freest country on earth. The United States has one of the highest per capita prison populations in the world, second only to Rwanda, thanks largely to the drug war, all while its federal government imposes its drug policies on other countries by methods ranging from mere diplomatic bullying to spraying foreign crops with lethal poison, from bribing foreign heads of state to bankrolling and whitewashing acts of mass murder conducted by despots in the name of fighting drugs.

Like so many other wars, the drug war is constructed on a mountain of lies. Politicians have lied over and over about the dangers of specific drugs, the percentages of drug offenders in prison, the success of various anti-drug programs, and the motives they have for waging the war. But even if it weren’t for these acts of brazen dishonesty, the drug war would still be evil.

The war on drugs is murderous. Militarized police forces frequently raid homes and assault or even slaughter innocent people – some of whom did not even break the unjust drug laws. And those laws are just that – unjust. Remember it always. The war on drugs is an unjust war of aggression. Its agents are in the wrong. Under the current system, if you defend yourself against this homegrown war of aggression, you might be killed instantly or put on death row like Cory Maye. The authorities will get away with it.

The war on drugs is not a program that should be reconsidered, reformed, or reinvented. It needs not a different set of priorities or a restructuring. It needs to be repealed completely. Its prisoners need to be released without an instant of hesitation. Its greatest victims should be compensated as much as possible out of the pockets of the aggressors. Those at the top of this war must be held responsible for their illegal and immoral acts.

I am sometimes told that libertarians are too obsessed with the war on drugs. I disagree. I think that people in general, including many libertarians, should be more concerned with it. We are talking about the longest war in American history, one that has hundreds of thousands of innocent people locked in cages, many of whom are raped and beaten by convicted brutes as the prison guards laugh, all at an exorbitant cost in tax dollars and liberty. We are talking about a program that has decimated every article in the Bill of Rights. We are talking about a modern-day witch-trial and inquisition, all wrapped up into one, and multiplied in its evil effects and destructiveness many times over. We are talking about the precedent for so many other evil policies, from prohibitions on so-called "money laundering" and the criminal enterprise known as civil asset forfeiture to the egregious civil liberties violations conducted today under the guise of combating terrorism.

They often say that all they want in the war on terror are the tools they’ve been using in the drug war for years. There is some truth to this. But they should have never had such sweeping powers to begin with, not for investigating crime, not for fighting terrorism, and especially not for a war on victimless activity.

The practical complaints against the drug war have been repeated ad nauseam: Black market violence escalates, more people die of drug impurities, and so on. These are compelling enough to end the whole crusade. But the most fundamental reason to end it is it’s evil, very evil. It treats sick people like criminals. It wrecks millions of lives. It puts young people in jail, sometimes for a lifetime, only for engaging in activities that some of our presidents engaged in when they themselves were young. It criminalizes speech between doctors and patients, and producers and consumers. It starts wars in other countries. It’s one of the greatest social evils in America. Unfortunately, a distinct political class profits immensely off the oppressive program, and has succeeded in bamboozling the public into thinking the program is a necessary evil or even a positive good.

Several years ago, drug warriors mistook some missionaries flying to Peru for a plane of drug dealers, and so shot them down. Lew Rockwell asked, "Isn’t it time the Christian Right begin to rethink the drug war, which has now taken two of their own?"

Sadly, most of the Christian Right, as well as most of the rest of the right and all too much of the left, still believes in the evil drug war. They are afraid of what will happen if drugs are made legal. Will more people do drugs?

Maybe. I don’t personally think the long-term increase would be so dramatic, if there were one at all. At various times, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, and amphetamine were legal. The problems associated with legal drugs many years ago still exist today, but at least we didn’t also have a deeply immoral war on drugs tearing society apart.

Even if some problems did increase, the drug war simply cannot be justified.
It is rotten and immoral to the core.
To put someone in a cage, or to kill someone, for engaging in private behavior or mutually voluntary trade is purely evil.
That is the first and most important argument against the war on drugs.

Published: February 1, 2006

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Source:
http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/01/31/steve-kubby-watch/
Posted by Stephen Gordon
01/31/2006
............................................

It seems that Placer has moved him from the infirmary to solitary confinement. He has a cell all to himself and he was freezing. Again they are ignoring his pleas for a blanket and have left him to shiver and chatter in a cold cell. Remember, this is in the foothills of the Western Sierra. It is very cold and the cold is a damp cold. I’m afraid he will be looking at getting pneumonia soon if he is not warmed up.

This is exactly the cruel and inhumane treatment I described to Canadian officials, that would happen if Steve were returned to the US. I also told them repeatedly that Steve would be immediately arrested upon his arrival at SFO, which is exactly what happened. Of course the Canadian government officials that judged our case responded to my pleas for protection from this grim future by turning a blind eye, ignoring evidence, and refusing to do the right thing when they could. They cannot see what they have done, for to do so would have to mean that they were wrong and have made a terrible life threatening mistake.

This, of course, is exactly the position that Placer is in. To admit that they are wrong about the life saving properties of cannabis is impossible. Better to test this theory out and see if it can really save a life.

Steve always liked to give us good news. So, the good news about today is that the Marinol is helping to control the rectal bleeding he was experiencing as well as the blood pressure. Of course Marinol does not contain the catacholimes present in the whole plant, and these have been shown by Dr. Guzman of Spain to have the properties of inhibiting a protein necessary for blood vessel development, which results in the cancer tissue being denied nutrients as well as teaching cancer cells to die.

With Marinol, Steve is only partly protected. Because Marinol uses only the THC active portion of the cannabis plant, his tumors are now free to grow again. This type of tumor is particularly apt to grow into the spinal cord, brain and organs.

Now, the bad news is that Placer has not taken his blood pressure since he arrived yesterday. Steve must be on a constant monitor in order to gauge the severity of his medical condition. At any time, his blood pressure can skyrocket. Being freezing cold stresses the body which releases more chemicals which worsens the danger.

This is a game of chicken and Steve doesn’t have much of a chance. He has been stripped of all rights, including his right to the special diet he needs. Steve can have a blood pressure attack from eating a bar of chocolate or eating foods with MSG in them. In addition, most low quality meats, like those served in jails, are full of steroids, which are basically food for Steve’s tumor to eat and then make even more adrenaline chemicals to rack his body. Unless he can eat his very limited diet of tofu, dill, garlic, and hemp oil salad, plus his oatmeal cookies, he is going stimulate the tumor even more to produce adrenaline chemicals.

A human’s right to care for his or her body as he or she choses, should be recognized by governments. What we put into our bodies to heal us and keep us balanced or relieve our pain, is our right. Especially if that person is suffering from a serious and rare type of cancer.

This all brings me to the most disturbing news of the day: Steve asked our friend to relay that Placer deputies have forced/intimidated him into signing a waiver which states that Steve absolves Placer County of any responsibility if he dies in their care, because he has refused to take conventional, alpha and beta blocker blood pressure medication.

The problem with this medication, is that it only protects Steve from a certain level of blood pressure attacks. If Steve’s body decides to raise his blood pressure over the protection of the alpha and beta blockers, then it will be like Mt. Vesuvius erupting and unless he is in a hospital with access to an IV drip, he will not get the blood pressure medication he would need to control the life threatening blood pressures wreaking his body.

Placer County is playing with fire.
I pray that they educate themselves on what happens when fire gets out of control.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

a transcript of a phone conversation with Steve Kubby was posted at blogs.salon.com, in which Kubby reported that his keepers forced him to sign a paper declaring that if he dies while in their custody, it's his fault, not theirs. Remember, these are the folks who by dragging Kubby back to the U.S. over the bogus drug charge put his life in unnecessary jeopardy to begin with.

Quoting Steve:
"OK, so let me continue with my report. Here's the spooky part, Pat.
The medical director has refused any further medical care for me, and has forced me to sign a paper that if I die, it's my fault for not taking conventional b-p medication.
When I protested that the statement did not include the statement that I was under doctors' orders from my doctors not to take these medications, I was confronted by a deputy, who told me, I want to get the quote right, told me, "Sign the paper, and sign it as is." And, you know, just got in my face and made it clear that I was under physical duress to do it, that I was forced to sign that paper."

 

[omega7]

I feel ill after reading that...actually more like completely fucking livid....I want to storm the fucking prison. The new revolution is taking way too long to happen. This is terrible. I wish Steve the best. Man this is sad. Is there anything we can do? Someone we can flood with letters? The prison/warden/governor/senator?

 

[I.M. Boggled]

"This is no more about Marijuana than the Boston Tea Party was about Tea."

From Steve's site @
http://www.kubby.com/

MOST CURRENT CONTACT FROM STEVE:

ATTENTION! KEEP CALLING THE JAIL MEDICAL CENTER @ 530-745-8660 AND REQUESTING THAT STEVE SEE AN OUTSIDE DOCTOR. CONTINUE TO CALL THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE ABOUT THE MOTION INTO COURT FOR EDIBLES TO BE GIVEN TO STEVE. THANKS EVERYONE!

Friday the 3rd will be the preliminary hearing to set the date for the trial which is estimated to be around February 15th. Bill McPike, Steve's attorney, met with the DA in hopes to be able to work with Placer County Probation Department ot reinstate Steve's probation.

Although Steve is thin and mal-nutritioned, he was pleased to see all of his friends and family in the courtroom,....
A little bit of good news is that he is now being given some Marinol but not the full dose amount he should be getting; 3 instead of 6 and he is has yet to be seen by a doctor.

Michele and the girls set out to cross the border and transport their belongings to the states. There is a little light at the end of the tunnel where Canada is concerned, but more on that at a later time. She and the girls made it across the border without any troubles of any kind, thankfully.

Unfortunately, Steve will be incarcerated the entire time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Pubdate: Wed, 01 Feb 2006
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)


JAILED ACTIVIST ASKS TO USE POT

Medical Marijuana Backer Steve Kubby Says It Fights the Symptoms Of His Rare Cancer.

AUBURN, Calif. -- An attorney for jailed medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby on Tuesday asked that the cancer-stricken inmate be allowed to eat cannabis in food or pills while behind bars, or be released to serve his time under house arrest.

Kubby, a former Libertarian candidate for governor of California, fled Placer County in 2001 and moved to Canada to avoid a 120-day jail stint he contends would have been a death sentence without marijuana.

Since being diagnosed with adrenal cancer in the mid-1970s, Kubby has smoked cannabis, which his doctors believe helps blunt the lethal illness.

Kubby returned after he exhausted his attempts to avoid deportation from Canada, and was promptly arrested last Thursday when his flight arrived in San Francisco.

During a short hearing Tuesday, Kubby shuffled into a jailhouse courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles. He said nothing, but smiled wanly and glanced at dozens of friends and supporters, who earlier in the day waved placards and called for his release in front of the county jail.

Supporters say Kubby has telephoned from jail to report that he is suffering headaches and nausea and that he has blood in his urine.

Placer County officials refuse to discuss Kubby's medical condition, citing the inmate's privacy. Though denied cannabis, Kubby is being allowed to take Marinol, a synthetic form of marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, THC.

Bill McPike, Kubby's attorney, argued in legal papers filed Tuesday that the 59-year-old medical marijuana patient has a right under California law -- including legislation approved in 2003 and upheld in several court cases -- to use marijuana while he serves jail time.

Christopher Cattran, a Placer deputy district attorney, said Kubby could face additional time, but that any ruling "will be up to the judge."

Kubby was arrested in 1999 and charged with cultivating marijuana for sale at his home near the Squaw Valley ski resort, north of Lake Tahoe. A jury voted 11-1 for acquittal in December 2000, but found Kubby guilty of possession of a single peyote button and one hallucinogenic mushroom.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Steve, the whole world is watching..., hang in there buddy.

IMB

 

[omega7]

Thanks IM....OK people lets make some phone calls! A roll full of quarters and a payphone. You can make a long distance on a payphone for 50 cents nowadays, so depending on how long the call is you might only nneed a buck or 2.

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Editorial: Local paper says just throw him to the Lions and be done with it...

Editorial: Local paper says just throw him to the Lions and be done with it...

Source:

TAHOE WORLD EDITORIAL
February 1, 2006

Placer County and Tahoe have had a five year reprieve, but last week the Kubby circus rolled back into town.

After being deported from Canada, where Steve Kubby and his family were living after he was convicted on drug charges in 2000, the medical marijuana activist and former gubernatorial candidate is serving his 120-day sentence in the Placer County jail in Auburn.
He contends he will die if not given marijuana to keep his adrenal cancer at bay.
So he and his wife and attorney are urging his supporters to call the Placer County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's office so he can get the "proper medical treatment."

Kubby's lawyer has also asked that Kubby be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest in Marin County.

We say enough is enough.

The court allowed Kubby to serve his sentence at home with electronic monitoring in 2001, but he opted instead to flee to Canada stating at the time he believed his sentence was a "direct threat to my life."
He also acknowledged that he may face jail time as a result of his decision.

Kubby has been given ample opportunity to serve his sentence at home and we believe that he could have been done with this ordeal five years ago if he followed the court's orders.

Although we sympathize with Kubby's medical condition, it seems that his antics are more about self promotion than advocating for medical marijuana.
It seems that he really believes he will die if not given cannabis while in jail, but one look at his Web site, www.kubby.com, and it is clear this is more about the Kubby crusade than an effort to advance medical marijuana.

On Friday, the spectacle that has become hopefully the last chapter in Kubby's case continues in Auburn at the Placer County Court House at 8:30 a.m. when the judge decides whether Kubby may serve his sentence under house arrest, again.
Already this past week protestors turned up outside the courtroom advocating that Kubby be allowed to use marijuana while in jail.
However, deputies are treating Kubby like any other inmate in their custody - as they should.
On Friday at least, the community has one more opportunity to watch the show.

We recommend bringing some popcorn along in case one gets the munchies.

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Feb. 3, 2006

Medical marijuana crusader and former gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby is not pressing his request to use marijuana for medicinal reasons in jail.

At a hearing to consider his request, his attorneys took the request to have marijuana put in his food off the table for now. Kubby claims the marijuana relieves symptoms of a rare type of cancer and claims he will suffer and die without it in jail. Now he says he is taking the drug Marinol and says that is working satisfactorily.

Kubby was arrested for possession of the hallucinogen mescaline and psychedelic mushroom. He was sentenced in 2001 but fled to Canada where he sought refugee status, claiming he was persecuted for his advocacy of medical marijuana use. A Canadian court ordered him returned to the U.S. last month.

Prosecutors and Kubby's attorneys are reportedly trying to work out a plea agreement that will allow Kubby to serve his sentence at home.

http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15719

 

[I.M. Boggled]

February 4, 2006
latimes.com

Synthetic Pot Aids Jailed Activist

Steve Kubby said he needed marijuana for his cancer, but THC pills are doing the trick.

A medical marijuana activist who long argued that he needed the drug to cope with his cancer surprised a judge and supporters Friday morning by announcing that a synthetic substitute provided to him in jail has proved an effective replacement.

Thanks to Marinol, a pill form of THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in pot, Steve Kubby is "smiling and happy," lawyer Bill McPike said. "In fact, he said it's the best he's felt in years."

Kubby had asked that he be allowed to consume cannabis while in jail, and a judge in the Placer County town of Auburn had been set to consider that request Friday. Instead, McPike withdrew the request.

Kubby, 59, returned to California last month after spending the last five years in Canada dodging a 120-day prison sentence. On Tuesday, McPike asked that his client be allowed to continue using cannabis.

Kubby and his physicians had said that without pot to regulate the adrenal cancer's symptoms, which may lead to heart attack or stroke, his health would be jeopardized.

Since his diagnosis a quarter-century ago, the activist has smoked up to a dozen marijuana cigarettes a day.

So no one was more surprised than Kubby by his reaction to Marinol, McPike said in a telephone interview.

Kubby's positive response to the drug wasn't immediate. Upon arriving in Auburn on Jan. 27, shortly after a Canadian court denied his request for refugee status, the drug caused vomiting and nausea, McPike said. But since then, Kubby's condition stabilized, spurring his decision to stick with the synthetic.

A physician will continue examining Kubby daily to ensure the drug's effects persist, he said.

Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a cannabis advocacy group, said Kubby's decision to forgo pot will not affect the fight for medical marijuana.

"Some [medical] conditions respond to THC and some don't," he said, "so what's right for Steve won't necessary work for everyone."

Kubby, who helped draft California's medical marijuana law, is awaiting trial for a March 2001 conviction for possession of a peyote button and a hallucinogenic mushroom. A Placer County jury acquitted him of the more serious charge of selling pot grown in his basement garden.

Fear of jail time without access to marijuana propelled Kubby to flee the country two months later with his wife, Michele, and two young daughters. The family has resided in British Columbia ever since.

Around the same time, Placer judges bumped up his original convictions from misdemeanors to felonies. Kubby appealed the rulings, declaring them a miscarriage of justice.

Kubby now faces up to three years in prison — nine times his original sentence. But McPike said he hopes to resolve matters before trial.

A hearing to discuss Kubby's case is set for Feb. 15.

"I must say, following Steve is like being on a ship that rocks back and forth all the time," Gieringer said. "You never know what's going to happen."

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Sun, Feb. 05, 2006
Source:SACRAMENTO BEE


Prisoner ends attempt in court to treat cancer symptoms with medical marijuana

SACRAMENTO - In a court hearing that took less than two minutes, medical marijuana activist Steven Wynn Kubby withdrew his request Friday to use cannabis to treat his adrenal cancer while he serves a sentence in the Placer County jail.

Kubby's attorney told a Placer Superior Court judge that Kubby had stabilized his blood pressure while in jail by using the prescribed drug Marinol, a synthetic form of marijuana's active ingredient, THC.

Kubby has contended that he will likely die if he is incarcerated without being able to use medicinal marijuana.

Opinions are divided over whether a cancer patient should receive Marinol or medicinal marijuana.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration implies in a fact sheet on its Web site that cancer patients may not need marijuana because Marinol can relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and that it alleviates loss of appetite among AIDS patients.

However, a physician who has treated Kubby, Dr. Joseph Connors of the British Columbia Cancer Center, said he believes that withholding cannabis could ultimately harm Kubby.

On Friday, Kubby's attorney, William McPike of Fresno County, asked Judge Robert McElhany to pull his motion seeking the use of edible cannabis in jail off the court calendar but also said his client may bring it back at a later time if any changes occur in his condition.

Kubby's wife, Michele, told reporters outside the Auburn courtroom that her husband suffered from high blood pressure and other symptoms during his first day of incarceration in Placer County on Jan. 27.

He was given Marinol, which helped him get through the night, Michele Kubby said, and he has continued to receive three pills each day from doctors in the jail.

"Steve believes the Marinol is helping," she said. "Had he not taken it on that first day, he says he wouldn't have made it."

Kubby, 59, is serving a 120-day jail sentence for a drug conviction in Placer County in 2000. He was supposed to serve the sentence in 2001, but he went to Canada and sought refuge.

He was deported from Canada on Jan. 26 after exhausting appeals to remain, and he was arrested by police that night when his airplane landed at San Francisco International Airport.

The Placer County Sheriff's Department has been adamant that he will not be permitted to use cannabis in any form while he's in jail.

Another request in the motion that was withdrawn Friday was for Kubby's probation to be terminated and for Kubby to be allowed to serve the remainder of his 120-day sentence under house arrest while wearing an electronic monitor.

Kubby will be back in court Feb. 15 to deal with another issue -- an allegation that he violated probation when he moved to Canada in 2001.

He faces a three-year prison sentence over the matter. He has denied the allegation. A formal denial is similar to a plea of not guilty in an arraignment.

Michele Kubby said she was pleased that Marinol has eased her husband's pain in jail. But she said marijuana is still "his medicine of choice."

Steve Kubby's form of cancer is known as pheochromocytoma, a rare disease of the adrenal glands above the kidneys.

The University of Rochester Medical Center's Web site says that one part of the glands, known as the medulla, produces adrenaline and other hormones that affect blood pressure, heart rate and sweating.

Cancer develops in the medulla in the form of a tumor, usually benign. It causes the secretion of excess hormones, giving a person an "adrenaline rush," similar to the feeling one gets when frightened, the site says.

Symptoms of the disease include sudden or sustained high blood pressure that often resists treatment. Sweating, nausea, headaches, rapid pulse or heart palpitations are other symptoms, the site says.

Connors, the physician who treated Kubby in Canada, said the high blood pressure caused by the cancer could lead to a heart attack or a stroke.

The excess adrenaline being produced, he said, stimulates the heart to "run faster and to pump harder, increasing the heart rate and blood pressure."

"This puts extra strain on the heart," Connors said.

Connors said he also has treated Kubby with medicine known as alpha and beta blocking agents.

"They specifically counterattack the effects of the adrenaline," he said. "But over the years of treatment, Mr. Kubby simply observed that smoke from the marijuana did a better job than the alpha and beta blockers."

McPike, Kubby's attorney, said earlier this week after a court session that marijuana also seemed to be more effective in treating symptoms than Marinol.

Connors said it is unknown why marijuana quells the adrenal glands in Kubby's case. He added that chemotherapy is useless on Kubby's form of cancer.

"Chemotherapy may work for many different cancers, but it has no effect on pheochromocytoma," he said.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/crime_courts/13797737.htm

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Source: http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1800601.php

Kubby's Marinol Experiment -- Day 11
by via list Monday, Feb. 06, 2006 at 9:05 PM

I heard from Steve Kubby again early Monday, and he had a
different message from previous calls, when he had earnestly touted the
efficacy of Marinol to control the blood-pressure spikes of his adrenal cancer.

Kubby qualifies his endorsement of Marinol
Offers 90 percent protection, he now estimates

Steve Kubby phone call from Placer County Jail
7 a.m. Monday, Feb. 06, 2006
to journalist Patrick McCartney

McCartney's note: I heard from Steve Kubby again early Monday, and he had a
different message from previous calls, when he had earnestly touted the
efficacy of Marinol to control the blood-pressure spikes of his adrenal cancer.
Throughout the conversation, Kubby sounded more centered than in earlier
calls. Following are verbatim excerpts of the conversation, with discontinuities
noted by ellipses.


SK: Listen, I was wrong about the Marinol. And I'm concerned about losing my
strains up in British Columbia. I've been running [a blood pressure of] 120
over 80 on the strains I had in B.C., and I'm running about 10 to 15 points
higher, especially on the bottom number, which is the key number, the
diastolic. I'm very concerned that the people up in B.C. are going to think that I
don't need those strains, and they're absolutely essential to my health.

The first couple days on the Marinol I was getting dramatic relief over
nothing at all, and I was hitting close to 120 over 80 for a couple of days, but
I haven't hit that since. And I'm very concerned that I'm being forced to stay
at blood pressures 10 to 15 points higher.

They're certainly trying here, but it's not as effective. There's something
else in the whole plant. These numbers confirm it. I called you because I
think you more than anyone know how much I wanted to believe that I didn't have
to smoke pot again. You know, when I saw Michele the other night [Sunday
during visitor's hour], it just broke my heart. …

This is bullshit that I have to take the pharmaceutical! People are probably
wondering why I didn't go ahead with the [motion to eat] oral stuff? I can't
tolerate that much pot in my stomach. I get diarrhea. I get cramps. I mean,
eating as much pot as I need just has never worked with my stomach. Anyone
who knows me will tell you that always avoid edibles. And when Bill McPike said
he wanted to go for the edible thing, I thought, well if the Marinol doesn't
pan out, I better have this lined up.

But initially I was very, very hopeful, as you know. I mean, if there was
anyone ready to believe Marinol works, I think you have to say it was me.

I'm very concerned they're going to hear that [my Marinol testimonial] in
B.C., and they're going to go, oh well, I guess Steve doesn't need his strains
anymore. I cannot lose those strains, not just for but for other patients.
There is something in the current strain that I have bred at my garden, which is
being maintained by my Canadian friends, I cannot lose that strain. …

PM: I thought you were overly enthusiastic and, frankly, some of your
closest advisers felt that the Marinol had spiked your intoxication level. [SK:
No, no, no. I was never intoxicated.] Even [deleted] said that your grin in the
courtroom was a crazy grin.

SK: Listen to me. I really thought I was going to die. I was pissing blood.
My kidneys were so swollen and painful that it was absolutely hell. Just
before I went into the courtroom, I had a meeting with the doctor. And he showed
me that my blood pressures were under control. He told me that my kidneys
had just tested normally. They proved that I was passing blood earlier, but
they said the current test was showing that I had resumed normal kidney
function. I was just so grateful to be alive.

PM: Does this mean that you want Bill [McPike] to resubmit the motion for
oral cannabis?

SK: Bill says they'll never give me smoked cannabis. Oral cannabis is less
effective, because I can't tolerate it in the amounts I have to take. You
know, if I was a guy who smoked a joint a night or something, fine, but when
you're consuming nearly an ounce smoking …

PM: I always wondered if your nighttime schedule was because that's when
the pot wore off and you had to wake up and remedicate.

SK: Absolutely! My day began at 4:20 in the morning. My wife and friends
will all confirm that. [PM: Do you take edibles before going to bed?] I cannot
tolerate edibles.

More on the use of whole cannabis versus:

PM: So your experience in jail on Marinol confirms that the strain you've
raised is superior to a single-cannabinoid synthetic?

SK: No question! When I was using that strain, I was 120 over 80 - or
better! Doctor Connors has plenty b-p's on me of like 120 over 70, 120 over 75. I
have never been below 120 [in jail]. I've had 120 over 80 twice, and
everything else has been closer to, in terms of diastolic, the lower number, it's
been closer to 95 to 100. I'd say 90 to a hundred. But it's clear to me now that
I was very, very affected by my visit with Michele, to see what my
involvement with marijuana has done to her and the children, it just broke my
heart. …
She was so frightened. I thought, "God, please! I don't want anyone I love
to have to go through this again. I really, really wanted to believe, and I'm
afraid people are going to go, oh yeah, well he's saying that. But the
numbers support it. The numbers here that they've recorded all show that my b-p has
been 90 to just below 100.

PM: How often did you test your b-p at home?

SK: Well initially, I had a cuff and I used to test it all the time.
Whenever I came into the doctor's, Dr. Connors will tell you, when I came in to see
him, 120 over 80, or better! And that ain't happening here. First of all,
I'm concerned about saving the strains. Secondly, I want someone who knows how
desperately I wanted to believe in Marinol, know that it's not working …

We've got to get word to my Canadian friends that they cannot lose that
strain. … Marinol provides 90 percent of the protection that I need. There's no
other combination of pharmaceuticals that even comes close to the control that
we've been able to have with the Marinol.

PM: When you were so vegged out under the standard meds at Earth Camp One
[in the late '70s and early '80s], was that these beta blockers?

SK: Oh, they had me on everything - beta blockers, alpha blockers, calcium
blockers - and all of it turned me into a vegetable.

PM: As it turns typical pheo patients into vegetables.

SK: Because they have to give them so much to cover the upper end.

PM: And even if they survive, then they get Parkinson's symptoms, according
to [the late Dr. Vincent] DeQuattro.

SK: Yes. With the Marinol, instead of being at 170 or 200 over 130 or 140,
I'm at 130 or 140 over 90 or 96, around there. The lowest I've seen since
those first two days was a diastolic of 86, and the last thing DeQuattro told me
was that it's the diastolic that determines how long you live. Every point
that you can bring that down is more time on Earth. They're literally robbing
me of my time on Earth by forcing me to go on Marinol. But the medical staff
here does not deserve a bad rap. They really are trying as much as they can
within the context of all these regulations. …

I think it would be a criminal act against humanity to lose that [British
Columbia] strain. I've had two years of testing strains on my pheos, and I've
had 30 years of trying all kinds of different strains. So there's all this
research that will be lost, and people will suffer, if those strains aren't
protect. Just one strain really. I think it's strain 26 or 24.

When another inmate uses Steve's towel to clean the cell:

"I thought what's the big deal? Just give me more stuff, right? Didn't
bother me. The guard looks at him like he's just committed the most grievous sin
on earth. 'Man, do you have any idea what you've done?' The guy says nope. So
he calls out this other guy, an easygoing, cheerful guy. He's got kind of a
short haircut. You would never think he was involved with anything criminal,
except for the fact that his body has all these tattoos on it. … 'What would
you do if an inmate came into your cell and used your stuff to clean up the
cell?' And the guy just looks at him in disbelief. He says, 'That's like
pissing on your toothbrush. I'd crush his cell.' And I thought, holy shit! And he
was serious! It was like, of course! … He didn't know. A white guy like me; he
doesn't know. He said, 'man, you can die doing those kinds of things.' So
that was a reality check for me.