T
The420Guy
Guest
A high-profile American fugitive facing drug charges in B.C. has been
granted the right to smoke and grow huge quantities of marijuana --
for medical purposes.
The case is being described as a direct attack on America's anti-drug
policy and a move that will trigger a flow of "pot refugees" from
south of the border.
Steve Kubby, who fled with his family to the Sunshine Coast to avoid
a jail term in California, is believed the first American to be
granted a Health Canada exemption to the nation's drug laws.
"We're cleaning out our garage to start growing," said Kubby, 56, who
lives on the Sunshine Coast, home to several U.S pot activists who
have sought refuge there.
"The Americans would do well to come up to Canada and see how the
Canadians are doing this," Kubby said after receiving his exemption
Thursday.
His lawyer, John Conroy, who has represented many high-profile pot
activists in court, says he believes that Kubby is the first U.S.
citizen to be granted one of the approximately 800 exemptions that
have been issued by Health Canada since 1999.
"He's certainly the first one of the high-profile pot refugees," said
Conroy.
Kubby's permit allows him to travel with up to 360 grams of pot
within Canada and grow 59 plants at a time for medical use. It also
allows him to store up to 2,655 grams of marijuana.
Both Kubby and his lawyer agree that's a lot of pot.
Kubby says he smokes up to 12 grams of marijuana a day to control
symptoms of a rare form of adrenal-gland cancer.
Kubby, who is a host of Pot TV, a website with breaking news about
marijuana issues, once ran for governor of California as a
Libertarian candidate. He and his wife, Michelle, are well-known in
North America as advocates for legalizing medicinal marijuana.
Kubby was flagrant about his pot use and eventually was charged with
11 counts of possession and trafficking in California. He was
acquitted on all but two possession charges, for which he was
sentenced to four months.
Kubby, Michelle and their two chidren -- aged six and two -- fled to
Sechelt last year after the sentence was handed down.
Kubby was arrested on an immigration warrant last April after coming
to the attention of Sechelt RCMP in media reports about medicinal
marijuana.
Since then, he has applied for political refugee status -- a move
similar to one made by fellow U.S. pot refugee Renee Boje, who also
lives on the Sunshine Coast.
The U.S. has asked Immigration Canada to deport both Kubby and Boje.
Kubby and his wife also face criminal charges of production of a
controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in
connection with 160 plants police seized from their home in Sechelt
in April.
Kubby said one of his biggest problems in B.C. has been that police
just don't believe he needs to smoke as much pot as he says he does
for medical purposes.
He said the documents from Health Canada now bear out his claims.
Kubby won support for his marijuana use from Dr. Joseph Connor, a
clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia
and medical oncologist at the B.C. Cancer Agency.
Connor said Kubby's heavy pot smoking controls the blood-pressure
spikes, rapid heart beats, severe headaches and chest pains that can
result when his adrenal cancer cells produce too much adrenaline or
other hormones, and that it cuts down on the risk of stroke and heart
attack.
Marijuana appears to be unique in that it controls Kubby's symptoms
"better than any currently available combination of standard
medicines," wrote Connor in a letter to Health Canada.
"I have firmly recommended to him that he continue to use the
cannabis in the current dose and using the specific strains of plants
that he is now using."
Kubby's lawyer is now asking for the criminal charges in B.C. against
Kubby to be dropped.
He is also asking the RCMP to return the Kubbys' pot-growing
equipment so they can get started on a legal crop of marijuana.
But his MP, John Reynolds of the Canadian Alliance Party, is of a
different view.
"This is going to open the doors to more Americans coming in and
applying for exemptions . . . It concerns all Canadians," said
Reynolds, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast.
"The law is here for Canadians. Now people everywhere in the world
are going to say, 'Hey, Canada is a place to go and get your pot.'"
Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer, said Kubby's
case "flings the doors open to similarly situated Americans."
Kurland also said Canada can expect an angry reaction from the
Americans to this development.
"I think they are going to go ballistic . . . This is a direct attack
on their anti-drug policy."
Webpage:
Canada.Com{B0F65C4E-D8D9-41=
75-9551-F3E248D65C7A}
Pubdate: Sun, 1 Sept, 2002
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Province
Contact: provletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: Canada.Com
Details: MapInc
Author: Jane Sayd
granted the right to smoke and grow huge quantities of marijuana --
for medical purposes.
The case is being described as a direct attack on America's anti-drug
policy and a move that will trigger a flow of "pot refugees" from
south of the border.
Steve Kubby, who fled with his family to the Sunshine Coast to avoid
a jail term in California, is believed the first American to be
granted a Health Canada exemption to the nation's drug laws.
"We're cleaning out our garage to start growing," said Kubby, 56, who
lives on the Sunshine Coast, home to several U.S pot activists who
have sought refuge there.
"The Americans would do well to come up to Canada and see how the
Canadians are doing this," Kubby said after receiving his exemption
Thursday.
His lawyer, John Conroy, who has represented many high-profile pot
activists in court, says he believes that Kubby is the first U.S.
citizen to be granted one of the approximately 800 exemptions that
have been issued by Health Canada since 1999.
"He's certainly the first one of the high-profile pot refugees," said
Conroy.
Kubby's permit allows him to travel with up to 360 grams of pot
within Canada and grow 59 plants at a time for medical use. It also
allows him to store up to 2,655 grams of marijuana.
Both Kubby and his lawyer agree that's a lot of pot.
Kubby says he smokes up to 12 grams of marijuana a day to control
symptoms of a rare form of adrenal-gland cancer.
Kubby, who is a host of Pot TV, a website with breaking news about
marijuana issues, once ran for governor of California as a
Libertarian candidate. He and his wife, Michelle, are well-known in
North America as advocates for legalizing medicinal marijuana.
Kubby was flagrant about his pot use and eventually was charged with
11 counts of possession and trafficking in California. He was
acquitted on all but two possession charges, for which he was
sentenced to four months.
Kubby, Michelle and their two chidren -- aged six and two -- fled to
Sechelt last year after the sentence was handed down.
Kubby was arrested on an immigration warrant last April after coming
to the attention of Sechelt RCMP in media reports about medicinal
marijuana.
Since then, he has applied for political refugee status -- a move
similar to one made by fellow U.S. pot refugee Renee Boje, who also
lives on the Sunshine Coast.
The U.S. has asked Immigration Canada to deport both Kubby and Boje.
Kubby and his wife also face criminal charges of production of a
controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in
connection with 160 plants police seized from their home in Sechelt
in April.
Kubby said one of his biggest problems in B.C. has been that police
just don't believe he needs to smoke as much pot as he says he does
for medical purposes.
He said the documents from Health Canada now bear out his claims.
Kubby won support for his marijuana use from Dr. Joseph Connor, a
clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia
and medical oncologist at the B.C. Cancer Agency.
Connor said Kubby's heavy pot smoking controls the blood-pressure
spikes, rapid heart beats, severe headaches and chest pains that can
result when his adrenal cancer cells produce too much adrenaline or
other hormones, and that it cuts down on the risk of stroke and heart
attack.
Marijuana appears to be unique in that it controls Kubby's symptoms
"better than any currently available combination of standard
medicines," wrote Connor in a letter to Health Canada.
"I have firmly recommended to him that he continue to use the
cannabis in the current dose and using the specific strains of plants
that he is now using."
Kubby's lawyer is now asking for the criminal charges in B.C. against
Kubby to be dropped.
He is also asking the RCMP to return the Kubbys' pot-growing
equipment so they can get started on a legal crop of marijuana.
But his MP, John Reynolds of the Canadian Alliance Party, is of a
different view.
"This is going to open the doors to more Americans coming in and
applying for exemptions . . . It concerns all Canadians," said
Reynolds, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast.
"The law is here for Canadians. Now people everywhere in the world
are going to say, 'Hey, Canada is a place to go and get your pot.'"
Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer, said Kubby's
case "flings the doors open to similarly situated Americans."
Kurland also said Canada can expect an angry reaction from the
Americans to this development.
"I think they are going to go ballistic . . . This is a direct attack
on their anti-drug policy."
Webpage:
Canada.Com{B0F65C4E-D8D9-41=
75-9551-F3E248D65C7A}
Pubdate: Sun, 1 Sept, 2002
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Province
Contact: provletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: Canada.Com
Details: MapInc
Author: Jane Sayd