cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Root of Refugee Issue





Marijuana Root of Refugee Issue
Posted by CN Staff on April 26, 2003 at 13:56:44 PT
By Russ Akins
Source: Abbotsford News 
An American citizen and his family who have made a refugee claim to stay in Canada will have to wait six months for a decision on the case, says an Alliance MP who attended much of the hearing process. Langley-Abbotsford Alliance MP Randy White said Californian Steve Kubby claims his inability to legally smoke marijuana – to alleviate medical symptoms – amounts to political persecution in his own country. 
After nine days of testimony heard in Vancouver over two months, Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator Paula Downes has reserved her decision until the end of October. The move further delays the pending hearings of “other Americans who have made refugee claims using the same defence,’’ said White. Kubby, 56, once ran unsuccessfully for California governor. He moved to B.C. in 2000 after being convicted on two counts of possession of a narcotic. He faces up to four months in a California jail, claiming that him denying medical marijuana amounts to persecution and cruel and unusual punishment. However, White believes that Kubby was not successful in proving he is persecuted in the U.S. But the case could set a precedent, said the MP. “Mr. Kubby’s argument is that he would be subject to criminal charges and punishment for growing and smoking his marijuana in the U.S., but not in Canada. “If the IRB buys that argument, it will open the door to other Americans in similar situations,’’ said White. Prior to the start of the hearings, Kubby told the Abbotsford News: “We are excited about the opportunity to put the Police States of America on trial. “We will provide smoking gun documents that will show a criminal group of police, prosectors and judges who are violating a number of laws by meeting secretly on public funds, to invalidate an initiative written and passed by the people.’’ He referred to a 1990s California state vote that approved medial marijuana use. “Randy White is completely irrelevant to the hearings,’’ said Kubby. White said he has found evidence on the Internet of an “underground railroad’’ that will bring marijuana users from the U.S. into Canada. “They’re lining up to come to Canada, the new medical-marijuana sanctuary.’’ Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)Author: Russ AkinsPublished: April 24, 2003Copyright: 2003 Hacker Press Ltd.Contact: editor abbynews.comWebsite: http://www.abbynews.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Pot TV http://www.pot-tv.netThe Drug War Refugees http://freedomtoexhale.com/smk.htm Pothead Refugee Was Treated Here http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16005.shtmlMedical Pot Need Wouldn't Protect Him in Oregon http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15986.shtmlWhite Wades Into Immigration Watershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15607.shtml
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