cannabisnews.com: Kubby Case has National Significance!





Kubby Case has National Significance!
Posted by FoM on July 05, 1999 at 12:31:45 PT
Tom O'Connell, M.D. tjeffoc sirius.com
Source: The Kubby Files
The essential details of the "medical marijuana' case involving Steve and Michele Kubby are accurately covered by Pat McCartney, Auburn Journal City Editor and author of an instructive article at: URL:http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n699.a04.html . 
The only significant addition I would have is: not only will the outcome be important for Placer County - it will have an impact all over California and carries major implications for our national drug policy as well. As Dan Baum pointed out in "Smoke and Mirrors" in 1996, marijuana arrests provide cannon fodder for the drug war; without them, it would be impossible to maintain the massive edifice law enforcement (in its broadest sense) has built out of our drug laws since 1980. As Mike Gray pointed out in "Drug Crazy," the 'medical marijuana' issue directly threatens all those arrests; the apt nature of his analogy - a ratchet which can only be tightened - is borne out by a look at the behavior of all three levels of law enforcement in most California venues since Proposition 215 was passed in November, 1996. It shows that with certain noteworthy exceptions, distributors and medical users have been targeted for harassment, arrest, prosecution and sentencing out of all proportion to whatever hazard they might conceivably represent to public safety. The time, resources, and effort expended by law enforcement agencies to oppose any reasonable implementation of Proposition 215 speaks volumes about the real importance of marijuana prohibition to all of them. That a task force headed by State Sen. John Vasconcellos has been completely unable to formulate legislative recommendations and is still struggling with that task 30 months after passage of 215 and over six months after election of a nominally friendly AG is further eloquent testimony of the commitment of entrenched forces to their favorite prohibition. Emphasis in those discussions has remained on what hoops patients and caregivers must jump through - despite the declared intent of the initiative - which was to protect them from arrest and harassment from law enforcement. To describe the performance of allegedly 'friendly' AG Lockyer in this arena as a "disappoinment" is akin to calling Hurricane Andrew as a "big storm" or Loma Prieta a "minor temblor;" the only bigger disaster would have been Lungren as governor. Because the Kubby case embodies all the excesses present in a host of hitherto unpublicized (therefore, largely unknown) medical cases, and because he is relatively well-known and has gone out of his way to court publicity, the chances are excellent that his and Michele's prosecution will attract national media attention. This raises risks as well as potential benefits. The recent trial of Dr. Michael Baldwin and his wife in front of the same judge on very similar charges demonstrates that the prosecution's arguments, ludicrous as they are, can resonate with a conservative Placer county jury. We are fortunate that impeachment and Kosovo are out of the headlines and there seem to be no distractions looming; a reasonable outcome is favored by intense media scrutiny. Everyone in the reform movement should follow this trial closely and support the Kubbys to the extent possible.It could be a hot July Dr. O'Connell is a retired Army surgeon who uses his extensive medical training and experience to serve as a drug policy analyst and editor for DrugSense:http://www.drugsense.org/current.htmTHE KUBBY FILEShttp://www.kubby.com/ Monarch Bay Plaza #375 Dana Point, Ca 92629 DON'T GET LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP: Subscribe: Kubby-Announce-on list.kubby.org Unsubscribe: Kubby-Announce-off list.kubby.org 
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