cannabisnews.com: Medicinal Marijuana Trial Delayed!





Medicinal Marijuana Trial Delayed!
Posted by FoM on August 13, 1999 at 16:55:39 PT
By Joelle Babula 
Source: Tahoe World
AUBURN - Due to pregnancy complications, the trials of Steven Kubby and his expecting wife, Michele, will be postponed until February. 
"My wife is exhausted," Kubby said. "She's in her 22nd week of pregnancy and she only weighs one pound over her normal weight. She had a miscarriage last year and we don't want to have to worry about losing this baby." Kubby, a California Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, and his wife were arrested in January in their Olympic Valley home and charged with possession of marijuana for sales, cultivation of marijuana and conspiracy. The Kubbys pleaded innocent to all charges. The court trial, which began last Tuesday morning at the Placer County Superior Court in Auburn, was continued Tuesday following a doctor's examination of Michele, said her lawyer, Joe Farina of Sacramento. "Michele will be treated in Southern California by her doctor there as soon as she is well enough to fly," Farina said. "My wife has been ordered to complete bed rest for the last three days and she's still exhausted," Kubby said during a telephone interview Monday morning, before he learned the trial date had been continued. "She looks terrible, I don't know if she can tolerate another week of this. We want to get this trial over with to clear our name, but we have very real concerns about losing this baby. Whatever happens, my first priority is to survive as a family," said Kubby. Although the Kubbys each have their own case and their own lawyer, Steve's case was also continued because both cases deal with the same charges, witnesses and evidence, Farina said. "There will be an early settlement conference on Oct. 18 to see how Michele is doing and if the two cases can go on earlier," Farina said. "But if not, the trial will actually start Feb. 15." Following the arrest of the Kubbys in January, according to a report from the North Tahoe Task Force, four separate grow rooms, 300 marijuana plants, ranging in size from small nursery plants to full grown plants with buds, were discovered in the Kubby home. An estimated $420,000 worth of drugs were confiscated along with growing equipment and drug paraphernalia. According to Kubby, he was growing the marijuana for medical purposes and thus, is protected by Proposition 215, commonly known as the compassionate use act. Kubby has had adrenal cancer for 22 years. "His physician had recommended and approved Kubby's use (of marijuana) in writing in regard to his cancer situation," said Kubby's Truckee attorney, Dale Wood, in previous Tahoe World reports. Kubby said marijuana is the only medicine he takes for his cancer. "I have several tumors, including one next to my heart, and each cell produces a lethal level of adrenaline in my blood. Marijuana is the only medicine I take and it clearly helps. With those high levels of adrenaline, my blood pressure can shoot up and I can die of a stroke immediately." According to Kubby, he has been smoking large quantities of medical marijuana for the last 23 years. "I consume over seven pounds a year," Kubby said. "That's the same amount that others get from the government each year." Under Proposition 215, patients and caregivers who "possess or cultivate marijuana for medical treatment recommended by a physician are exempt from criminal law which otherwise prohibit the possession or cultivation of marijuana." Christopher Cattran, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case, said in previous Tahoe World reports that due to the large amount of marijuana found at Kubby's residence, "it was for more than just personal use." Kubby, however, said there is no limit to the amount you can grow for personal use under Proposition 215. "Depriving me of marijuana for more than a few days could kill me," Kubby said. "We (Michele and I) still maintain we haven't broken any laws."Thursday, August 12, 1999 12:33 AMSheriff Initiates Forfeiture of Kubbys Assets - 8/12/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2463.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 24, 1999 at 22:35:11 PT:
Letter From Steve Kubby To State Farm Insurance
September 22, 1999 Mark Morrison, Claim RepresentativeState Farm Insurance CompanyP.O. Box 10199Truckee, CA 96162 RE: Claim Number: 05-A683-370 Dear Mr. Morrison, According to your letter of August 18, 1999, I am not entitled to compensation for the medical marijuana that was stolen from me and destroyed. However, on September 7, 1999, the San Francisco Examiner published an article saying that insurance companies, including State Farm ARE paying compensation in cases such as mine. I am a legal medical marijuana patient who can provide medical documentation that I have a life and death necessity for medical marijuana, as documented by the University of Southern California Medical Center. I also meet the standards of a recent decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that patients who have exhausted all other medical remedies should be legally immune from marijuana laws, including federal laws. Medical marijuana is now the law under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and the medical marijuana which was stolen from me and destroyed was my legal property. Just because the local police failed to obey California's new Compassionate Use Act, is no excuse for you and State Farm to evade your responsibilities to your policy holders, ESPECIALLY if they are cancer patients, such as myself. What happened to me is no different than if someone stole a patient's insulin and nearly killed them as a result. My life-saving medicine was destroyed and I expect State Farm to compensate me. Incidentally, the United States government provides each of its eight medical marijuana patients with seven pounds per year. My 3.5 pounds may seem excessive to you, but it represented a six month supply of the only medicine that has kept me alive. Although I had 200 plants destroyed, I am willing to make a quick settlement for the total amount of medicine stolen at the time, 3.5 pounds, which I estimate to be worth $21,000. Otherwise, I will expect $500 per plant or $100,000. As someone who played a key role in the passage of the Compassionate Use Act, I intend to see that State Farm provides full compensation to documented patients when their medical marijuana is destroyed. State Farm has a responsibility to honor the newly recognized legal rights of medical marijuana patients. You can begin by immediately honoring our claim for real losses which I have suffered and to which I am entitled and that our claim for $21,000 be paid promptly. My family and I deserve to be promptly and fully protected by the policy we purchased from State Farm. I look forward to your cooperation on this matter, but I will take further action if this claim is not completely resolved by October 21, 1999. Sincerely, Steve Kubby-THE KUBBY FILES-http://www.kubby.comYou can help support the defense of liberties and the Kubbys with your contribution to their legal defense fund:Kubby Defense FundMonarch Bay Plaza #375Dana Point, Ca 92629DON'T GET LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP:Subscribe: Kubby-Announce-on list.kubby.comUnsubscribe: Kubby-Announce-off list.kubby.com
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 24, 1999 at 22:32:05 PT:
Let's Harness the Power of State Farm Insurance
Fellow Activists, Here's a great project that takes just minutes and will have a virtually guaranteed huge impact. You don't even have to address the email. Just hit the link below, and tell all those decision making corporate executives at State Farm Corporate Headquarters what you think about them standing behind the valid policy claims of their clients. Tell them how unnecessary claims are going to increase because of police misconduct. Tell them that if cops in California don't start following the law, claims for stolen medicine are going to cost them more than political power in Sacramento. Wellll... Maybe you shouldn't mention the cost of votes in Sacramento after all. Anyway, you get the idea. Please, just be sure to mention the Steve Kubby claim. A scant few minutes of your time could make a huge difference for lots of medical marijuana patients who would really appreciate it if you can give them a hand here. We will harness the awesome and incredible powers of...INSURANCE COMPANIES, and put them to work for us. That's right, let's get insurance companies to start paying for medical marijuana whenever it is illegally destroyed by police. The first such claim was paid in California last month. Now if you you know anything about how insurance works in California, you know that if you even annoy an insurance company, heads roll in Sacramento. Right now, Steve Kubby is trying to get State Farm Insurance to pay on his claim for a six month supply of medicine that was destroyed. You can help Steve and pave the way for other patients by communicating your thoughts about this issue directly to State Farm's Corporate Offices at:  http://www.statefarm.com/email.htm. A copy of Steve's letter to State Farm is enclosed: in peace, Art Sobey
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 29, 1999 at 14:46:56 PT:
Update from Steve Kubby 
Kubby Update8/27/99 Friends, Good news. Michele continues to improve and she's finally putting on weight.  Michele must still spend a lot of time in bed, but Mother and unborn child are doing much better. In other news, it appears the prosecution has failed to obey a court order and sent us bogus computer records. You may recall that early last March, the court ordered the prosecution to turn over copies of our hard drives. We finally received those copies earlier this month and sent them directly to our expert, Mark Murphy, a software developer. After examining the two CDs given to us by the High Crimes Task Force, Mark found that nearly half of the data had been lost because of formatting errors. Whoever prepared our CDs, took all of our Macintosh files and applications and then wrote them to Windows format. Since Windows has no Mac resource fork, the CDs are worthless. Joe Farina, one of our defense attorneys, intends to pursue this matter. Let freedom grow, Steve THE KUBBY FILEShttp://www.kubby.com You can help support the defense of liberties and the Kubbys with your contribution to their legal defense fund: Kubby Defense FundMonarch Bay Plaza #375Dana Point, Ca 92629 DON'T GET LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP:Subscribe: Kubby-Announce-on list.kubby.comUnsubscribe: Kubby-Announce-off list.kubby.com
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 14, 1999 at 11:07:02 PT:
Dan Fitzgerald Turns Up the Heat in Placer County!
August 14, 1999I understand that the Placer County Sheriff's department is moving to seize the assets of the Kubby family, a day after a judge postponed the trial due to Michelle Kubby's complicated pregnancy. How can any human being do this to another? This pregnant woman, who suffered a miscarriage last year, is under enormous stress from the Placer county Sheriff's office. There is a trial date set to determine whether or not she and her husband did in fact violate any laws; it is not clear that they did. There seems, in fact, to be substantial evidence that the Placer County Sherrif's office has violated the law, manufactured evidence, and conducted a vendetta against a man who ran for Governor as a third party candidate in the last election. Numerous doctors have certified that his adrenal cancer, almost always fatal, is held under control by his daily dosage of cannabis. Can't you just wait until the trial ends to see whether or not this family did in fact violate any laws? You are already in possession of their money and computers; there is no reason to initiate forfeiture now, other than to deny them access to evidence they need for their defense and to further harass them because you disagree with their political stance and activities. Shame on you. Your actions could lead to a miscarriage of her unborn child, a child dearly wanted by both father and mother. I believe that the taxpayers of Placer county do not want to do this to Michelle Kubby, do not want their officials to do this in their name, do not want their tax dollars to go into harassing this woman. I have therefore copied as many businesses and people as I could locate in Placer county, to alert them to what you are doing in their name, with their tax dollars. I believe that your actions clarify for anyone paying attention that the law enforcement industry is a greater threat to our nation and the freedoms we revere than any marijuana smoker, regardless of whether or not these people are covered by the duly passed Proposition 215. A sitting Judge has postponed the trial until February so that this woman can attempt to carry her baby to term. Can you not also wait until then to express your displeasure? Under the statutes, you are not required to forfeit these assets. Doing so now increases the stress on this woman. Your choice to do so gives law enforcement nationwide a black eye. In deciding whom to support and whom not to support in the future, I will remember this dark episode, and will definitely question the motives of police officers more critically than I did before I heard about it.Please, have some decency. Sincerely, Dan Fitzgerald THE KUBBY FILEShttp://www.kubby.com You can help support the defense of liberties and the Kubbys with your contribution to their legal defense fund:Kubby Defense Fund Monarch Bay Plaza #375Dana Point, Ca 92629 DONDON'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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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 13, 1999 at 20:35:09 PT:
Subverting Medical Pot!
Pubdate: Fri, 13 August 1999 Source: Santa Maria Times (CA) Copyright: 1999 Santa Maria Times To the Editor:It has been two years and nine months since the voters of California passed Proposition 215. So why are law enforcement officers still arresting sick people whose doctor prescribed medical marijuana, confiscating these ill people's property, trying them in court and subjecting them to jail? Why are some judges refusing to accept Proposition 215 as a defense for possession and use of medical marijuana by sick people? No proper court has overturned Proposition 215.The Institute of Medicine's recent study showed that marijuana does have medicinal value. But the federal government still classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, not supposed to have any medical value. Governments do not allow doctors to prescribe class 1 drugs. Doctors can and do prescribe morphine, cocaine, methadone and other addictive drugs. These same legal strictures do not allow doctors to prescribe marijuana, which is not addictive, does not have an overdoes level, and not once has proven to kill anyone.The Libertarian Party is sponsoring a web site:http://www.215now.com/ which is petitioning the federal government to reschedule medical marijuana from a class 1 drug to a class 3 drug so that doctors may legally prescribe it. The Libertarian Party urges everyone of all political affiliations to visit our web site:http://www.215now.com/ and sign on to our petition. Our friends, neighbors and relatives who are unfortunate enough to be medically ill should not be subject to arrest, trial in court and jail because they are sick and trying to get well. Doctors and medical professionals should prescribe drugs. Law should not allow uncaring bureaucrats to position themselves between doctor and patient, denying medical treatment that the doctor recommends. Gary L. KirklandPresident Region 40Libertarian Party, Atascadero 
Subverting Medical Pot
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