cannabisnews.com: Auburn Journal Blasts D.A. Over Kubby Case! Auburn Journal Blasts D.A. Over Kubby Case! Posted by FoM on July 04, 1999 at 10:43:27 PT Kubby Announce Source: The Kubby Files Things are beginning to heat up in Placer County. The Inside Edition show is having a powerful effect on everyone who sees it, more TV media are contacting us and Court TV is even planning to cover us. Dr. Tom O'Connel, a retired thoracic surgeon and editor of DrugSense put it this way: "Without any doubt, because the case embodies so many of the abuses which have beset medical users, your trial, is going to be the most important event since the initiative was passed in November '96."What Will Make Placer Take Medical Pot Seriously? We will find out this month whether Placer County prosecutors continue to pursue criminal charges against medical marijuana patients, or attempt to come to grips with California's medical marijuana law.The District Attorney's Office is due in court Thursday to announce whether it will retry Rocklin dentist Michael Baldwin and his wife Georgia on cultivation of marijuana for sale.Some thought the D.A. would drop the remaining counts against the Baldwins in April after Superior Court Judge James Garbolino dismissed cultivation charges against them.Garbolino reviewed Proposition 215, the 1996 Compassionate Use Act approved by California voters, and other legal precedents, and ruled that the medical marijuana initiative protected the Baldwins from prosecution for cultivation.But county prosecutors pursued cultivation for sales charges against the Baldwins, basing their case solely on the number of plants they grew and their possession of turkey basting bags.A jury deadlocked 6-6 on Michael Baldwin's guilt and voted 7-5 for Georgia Baldwin's acquittal on May 12 before Garbolino declared the case a mistrial.On July 19, jury selection will begin on what is already a highly publicized medical marijuana case — the prosecution of Steve and Michele Kubby of Olympic Valley.Steven Kubby was a key leader in California's medical marijuana movement, and openly espoused the use of pot — cannabis is the scientific term — for his cancer condition when he ran for governor last year as a Libertarian.The North Tahoe Task Force investigated the Kubbys for six months after receiving an anonymous letter that accused Kubby, who publishes an online adventure magazine, of growing marijuana and selling it to raise funds for his campaign.The Kubbys never made any secret of their growing pot. They had obtained the proper legal and medical paperwork and, once they knew they were under surveillance, left flyers in the trash informing police of their status as medical marijuana patients.When the task force raided the Kubbys on Jan. 19 — complete with battering ram and body armor — they confiscated the couple's computer (their livelihood), personal papers, autographed books, posters, all keys, bank records, petty cash and even the $200 the Kubbys had in their wallets. They also seized their passports and Social Security cards. (Incidentally, the Kubbys still have not received a copy of their computer records, despite a February court directive.)The Kubbys believe they represent an exemplary test case to establish the legitimacy of Prop. 215. They insist prosecutors will have no evidence of marijuana sales, while the Kubbys will be able to document their medical need, including Steve's otherwise fatal adrenal cancer."What are they going to do?" Steve Kubby asked this week. "Kill me by sending me to jail, or give me medical marijuana? If they sent me to jail, Placer County would be accused of human rights violations."Joe Farina, a Sacramento attorney who represents Michele Kubby, predicted that Placer County officials will not take Prop. 215 seriously unless they receive setbacks in court."For some people, it takes a series of jury verdicts or monetary awards before they accept a change," Farina said. "They thought they had Baldwin dead to rights, but if they couldn't beat Baldwin, they're going to have a hard time convicting Steve and Michele."As the high-profile cases head to court, Placer County deputies continue to bust lesser-known marijuana growers, regardless of whether they have valid letters from their physicians. Many live in Sacramento County.Robert De Arkland, 71, is a retired real estate estimator and heavy equipment operator who lives in Fair Oaks. Placer County investigators broke down his unlocked door in October and seized 13 plants he was growing under a physician's guidance.Sacramento prosecutors dismissed cultivation charges against De Arkland in April, and the court ordered Placer County to return his plants. But the feisty retiree hit Placer County with a $25.2 million claim and may file a lawsuit against the county as soon as this week."Placer County has a real weird attitude," De Arkland said Friday. "They are going out of their jurisdiction and messing with sick people."One way or another, Placer County will eventually have to recognize the validity of Prop. 215, and end its policy of arresting first and asking questions later.Pat McCartney is the Journal's city editor. He can be reached at 885-6585, ext. 143, or by e-mail at elpatricio aol.com. McCartney is on vacation this week, but he and his column will return next week.Pubdate: Sun, 4 July 1999 Source: Auburn Journal Copyright: 1999 Auburn Journal Contact: ElPatricio aol.com Address: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603 Website: http://www.auburnjournal.com/ Author: Pat McCartney, Auburn Journal City EditorTHE KUBBY FILEShttp://www.kubby.comMonarch Bay Plaza #375Dana Point, Ca 92629DON'T GET LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP:Subscribe: Kubby-Announce-on list.kubby.orgUnsubscribe: Kubby-Announce-off list.kubby.org Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 04, 1999 at 11:14:04 PT: ABC News Up in Smoke from April 2nd 1999! Note from Steve Kubby,http://abcnews.go.com/ ABCNEWS.com has put up a suprisingly positive medical marijuana page with excellent links and information as well as this well written summary of how marijuana became so illegal.Up in Smoke The Sorry Politics of Medical Marijuana Archaic tax laws and the federal drug enforcement establishment have forced doctors and patients to break the law to use marijuana for pain relief. (ABCNEWS.com)By Nicholas RegushABCNEWS.comhttp://abcnews.go.com/Have you ever watched someone who is ill, someone you love, cry and scream with pain for days, weeks, months, even years? Your first reaction is to touch or hold that person and hope that you can magically wish the pain away. But your more practical impulse is to ensure that all medical efforts have been exhausted to find a medicine that will neutralize or at least dull the pain. Unfortunately for millions of Americans who live with the pain and numerous discomforts of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and other chronic ailments, the road to relief is often blockaded by small-minded government bureaucrats, cowardly doctors and empire builders in the so-called Justice Department. I am referring to the irresponsible, indefensible and unforgivable tactics used to prevent people in severe pain from using marijuana as a medicine. Above all else, the arguments against medical marijuana are essentially efforts to protect the turf of the federal drug-enforcement Establishment. Unholy WarThe federal government, especially under the staunch leadership of “good boy” Bill Clinton (who says he never actually inhaled), continues a Jihad against drugs that grinds through everything in its path and is blind to human medical needs. This week, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine released its long-awaited report on the subject. Big deal. A waste of taxpayers’ money and everybody’s time. Yes, public opinion is divided on this issue. Yes, there is some evidence that medical marijuana can be helpful. Yes, there is absolutely no evidence that legalizing medical marijuana will lead to reefer madness. Sure, let’s do more research. And let’s find a better way to deliver marijuana into the body so we won’t have to smoke the stuff and inhale all those toxic chemicals. But meanwhile, until we sort out all these things, maybe we should allow some people a few puffs under careful medical supervision. We needed this elite scientific panel to remind us of what has been painfully obvious and reported and editorialized countless times in the medical literature over the years? Let’s get serious. We are dealing with a political issue. I liken it to an infestation, one that has festered like a slow-growing parasite and taken over the life of the body politic. Revenuers’ RevengeIt all goes back to the Harrison Tax Act of 1914, which required payment of a graduated occupational tax by all persons who imported, produced, compounded, sold, dealt in, dispersed or gave away narcotic drugs. This act didn’t mention addicts or addiction. At the time, opium and its derivatives were widely available, even in patent medicines (like Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup) and soft drinks. Although the Harrison Act neither made addiction illegal nor directed doctors one way or the other about prescribing drugs for addicts, the Supreme Court decided in 1915 that possession of “smuggled” drugs by an addict was a violation of the act. This forced addicts to go to doctors — the major legal source of drugs left to them. After the arrest of a physician who gave four narcotic tablets to a patient, doctors, fearing prosecution, began abandoning addicts. From this point, a succession of imaginative interpretations of the Harrison Act combined with the steady rise in clout of a small Treasury Department unit (later named the Federal Bureau of Narcotics) to lead inexorably to an all-out war on drugs, including marijuana. Criminalization BlowsToday, the huge federal bureaucracy to control drug use has become a fire-breathing monster. And it’s not about to change its colors quickly. There will never be enough medical evidence to satisfy people who are convinced that the only way to deal with narcotics use is to dump massive numbers of people in jail and ban the drugs outright for fear they’ll contaminate all children. Early this century, this nation could have chosen a more enlightened way of dealing with narcotic use. It chose criminalization, rather than a more medically-minded approach for those who needed and wanted it. Well, this Holy War has been a total mess and dismal failure. The law-and-order crowd blew it then and is blowing it now. The good news, I suppose, is that voters in several states have put the medical marijuana issue on the ballot. California passed a referendum to permit its use. What’s really needed now is a change in federal law, which supersedes state law on narcotics. As for those peculiar politicians who remain married to human suffering at any cost, one recourse is to give them a swift and painful boot out of office. Nicholas Regush produces medical features for ABCNEWS. In his weekly column, published Wednesdays, he looks at medical trouble spots, heralds innovative achievements and analyzes health trends that may greatly influence our lives.His latest book is The Breaking Point:Understanding Your Potential For Violence. Up in Smoke From April 2nd 1999 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: