cannabisnews.com: Voter's Will At Stake in Medipot Trial!





Voter's Will At Stake in Medipot Trial!
Posted by FoM on July 22, 1999 at 19:26:54 PT
Kubby Announce
Source: The Kubby Files
Note: Our newshawk writes: Tom Elias' column appears in over 40 newspapers in California and for good reason. Elias has a keen understanding of the political process and makes an incredibly lucid presentation of the real issues underlying our case.
Voter's Will At Stake in Medipot Trial!It's not just Steve and Michele Kubby who were scheduled to go on trial today in Placer County on charges of growing marijuana in their home. Also at issue is the basic political question of whether the people's will matters, especially when it conflicts in no way with anyone's constitutional rights.Plenty of successful California ballot initiatives have been altered by courts after they were found to trample on basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Examples: The 1964 Proposition 14 and its attempt to legitimize racial discrimination in housing and the 1996 Proposition 187, seeking to deprive illegal immigrants of public schooling and health care. But the courts can't touch Proposition 215, which also passed in 1996. No one so much as suggests it could ever deprive anyone of any right. This initiative aimed only at allowing patients to use marijuana when their doctors say it can help them. The only legal problem with this measure is that it conflicts with federal regulations that place pot on the list of dangerous and illegal narcotics which no one may use under any circumstances - unless they have a federal permit exempting them. So insistent are federal officials on enforcing their list that Barry R. McCaffrey, the appointed federal drug czar who has never stood for elected office anywhere, told California Attorney General Bill Lockyer last spring that he risked arrest if he conducted marijuana-related research. So an appointed federal official was essentially threatening the elected chief law enforcement officer of America's largest state. McCaffrey was also ignoring a White House-commissioned report from the federal Institute of Medicine, which declared pot safe for medical use. But Lockyer backed off. His office has so far sponsored no research on medical marijuana. He allows his investigators to testify for the prosecution in medipot trials. While he makes no move to stop anyone from using medical marijuana, he also does nothing to stop local sheriffs and district attorneys from disregarding Proposition 215. That's why the people's will is as much at issue in the Kubby trial as the fate of the couple themselves. Kubby, last year's Libertarian Party candidate for governor, was arrested with his wife in January, when a joint state-local-federal task force entered their home near Lake Tahoe and found about 200 pot plants of varying sizes. Placer County authorities immediately said that was too many to be just for their own use. So even though prosecutors admit they have no evidence of even one sale, or any intention of selling, the Kubbys stand accused of growing pot for sale. Meanwhile, the couple says they were growing the weed according to the only guidelines in existence for medipot plant quantity, issued last year by the city of Oakland. Steve Kubby's doctor insists that without medipot, he'll die within months of malignant pheochromocytoma, a rare form of adrenal cancer which he has held at bay with marijuana since the 1970s. That's what makes this case a classic: Local authorities ignore Proposition 215, medical evidence and testimonials. The attorney general keeps hands off. That leaves it up to a jury. "This is no more about pot in the final analysis than the Boston Tea Party was about tea," says Kubby. "This is about whether you can get the medical treatment you need without the interference of officialdom. We were told if we didn't like existing laws on marijuana, we should change them. We did that. Now our only other chance to go before the people is via a jury. "That seems the only way to bypass intransigent local officials. We think if we win, it will influence what sheriffs and district attorneys will do everywhere in California." He may be right. For sure if the Kubbys are acquitted, some representatives of the people will have spoken again. But if their case never reaches the appeals court level, there's no guarantee law enforcement will heed a precedent set here any more than it has Proposition 215.Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jul 1999Source: Auburn JournalCopyright: 1999 Auburn JournalContact: ElPatricio aol.comAddress: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603Website: http://www.auburnjournal.com/Author: Thomas D. Elias tdelias aol.comCannabis News Related Articles On The Kubby Case:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2132.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Tom Paine on July 23, 1999 at 12:02:38 PT
NEW Steve Kubby media archive URLs! SHORT!
http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm*MAP: Search Results [of "ALL News" archive from the last few years,including current news. Media articles mentioning Steve Kubby.Newspaper articles mostly. Also some videos, broadcast and magazinearticles, etc.]---http://www.mapinc.org/kubbynew.htm*MAP: Search Results [of "Current News" archive from the last fewweeks. Media articles mentioning Steve Kubby. Newspaper articles,magazine articles, broadcast articles, videos, etc.]
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