cannabisnews.com: Expert Testifies: Pot Growth For Personal Use Expert Testifies: Pot Growth For Personal Use Posted by FoM on November 16, 2000 at 07:26:47 PT By Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal Source: Tahoe World An expert witness for the defense testified Tuesday in the Placer County Superior Court trial of Steve and Michele Kubby that the amount of pot found at their Olympic Valley home was consistent with growing the plants for personal use. Chris Conrad, author of "Hemp for Health" and former curator of a museum in Amsterdam devoted to marijuana, told jurors he personally examined marijuana plants confiscated from the Kubby home after a January 1999 search. He estimated the potential harvest would have been much less than law enforcement's estimated 25 pounds of marketable pot. A total of 265 plants were discovered in the raid. "We're probably looking at three and a half pounds," Conrad said. Conrad cited a federally sanctioned study at the University of Mississippi that estimated the average cannabis plant would produce a half ounce of marijuana. Called as an expert witness on cannabis cultivation, yield and intent to distribute, Conrad said the yield could be bumped to three-quarters of an ounce, when other studies are taken into account. Conrad said his estimate also discounted 25 percent of the weight of the confiscated pot to take into account roots, dirt and "assorted trash" he saw in the evidence bags. And only 28 percent of the harvested pot would be high-potency bud, he said. Asked by Michele Kubby's defense attorney J. David Nick if the 3.5-pound estimate would be consistent with personal medical use, Conrad said it would be sufficient for one person, "perhaps two." He added that he knew of one medical marijuana user who used 12 pounds of pot a year. Nick also queried Conrad on whether he believed the Kubby crop could be deemed "possession for sale." "No," replied Conrad, saying he believed the marijuana would be for personal consumption. He was also asked if it was "scientifically impossible" to get a 25-pound harvest from the Kubby grow room. He said it would be impossible. Conrad also delved into his self-described "strong friendship" with Kubby, a pro-marijuana advocate who was the Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate in 1998. The two worked together in 1996 during the successful campaign to pass Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative. Conrad testified about Kubby's personal pot-smoking, which he had witnessed firsthand. Saying he had smoked marijuana with Kubby, then correcting himself to say he had watched Kubby smoke, Conrad said the accused would produce well-formed, cigarette-shaped joints that were larger than normal, containing about a gram of pot. Unlike for-profit growers, Kubby would smoke about two-thirds of the joint and then discard it, because of studies that showed carcinogens collect at the roach end of the cigarette, he said. Sellers wouldn't waste part of their profits, Conrad said. Kubby, 53, has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He has a doctor's recommendation to treat it with marijuana. Michele Kubby, 34, at one time was using pot to fight the effects of a bowel ailment. Dr. Charles Kellermyer, a Truckee physician who issued medical pot recommendations in 1998 and 1999 to Steve Kubby, testified that marijuana appeared to be an effective treatment for his patient's cancer. "Steve appeared asymptomatic," Kellermyer said. "I don't know why." Kubby first came to him the morning after Prop. 215 passed, the doctor testified. "I said we should wait until it becomes law," he said. Kellermyer also saw Michele Kubby in 1998 about her irritable bowel syndrome. He said that he ordered more tests and recommended more fiber in her diet. Jurors were told by Cosgrove that the trial will now stretch into early December. The case initially was to have gone to the jury today. Source: Tahoe World (CA) Author: Gus Thomson, Auburn JournalPublished: November 16, 2000Copyright: 2000 Tahoe World Address: P.O. Box 138, Tahoe City, CA 96145 Fax: (530) 583-7109 Contact: world tahoe.com Website: http://www.tahoe.com/world/ Forum: http://www.tahoe.com/community/forum/ Related Articles & Web Sites:The Kubby Fileshttp://www.kubby.org/Chris Conradshttp://www.chrisconrad.com/Witnesses Line Up To Testify for Steve Kubby http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7677.shtml Tenth Amendment - Up In Smoke http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7565.shtmlFighting Cheech & Chong Medicinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6533.shtml Pot Trial Focuses On Magic Mushrooms http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7468.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Kubby:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=steve+kubby Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: