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The420Guy
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American pot "refugee" Steve Kubby has applied for a Health Canada exemption
which would legally allow him to smoke marijuana and enlisted the support of
a B.C. cancer specialist as he gears up for a legal fight over his medical
marijuana use.
Kubby, who faces criminal charges of cultivating pot in Sechelt, plans to
ask the B.C. Supreme Court for an exemption to Canada's drug laws, that
would allow him to smoke pot, on "life and death" medical grounds.
Kubby also wants to ask the judge to order police to hand back pot seized by
Sechelt RCMP.
Kubby, who suffers from a rare form of adrenal gland cancer, says smoking
pot is the only thing that protects him from heart attacks and strokes which
can result when his cancer cells start producing extra adrenaline and other
hormones.
Kubby is basing his legal case on a recent decision by a B.C. Supreme Court
judge which appeared to set a precedent for a lower standard for medicinal
pot use.
Police raided Wes Winchester's home in September of 2000 and seized 96
plants, charging Winchester with cultivation and trafficking. But on June
25, a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed drug charges against Winchester who
suffers from AIDS and three types of hepatitis, saying his post smoking is
"reasonably necessary for therapeutic use". Winchester's lawyer argued
smoking marijuana is the only way his client can keep his daily cocktail of
67 pills down.
Recently, Kubby won support for his legal battle from Dr. Joseph Connors, a
clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and
medical oncologist at the B.C. Cancer Agency.
Connors said Kubby's pot smoking controls the blood pressure spikes, rapid
heart beats, severe headaches and chest pains which can result when his
adrenal cancer cells produce too much adrenaline or other hormones.
Marijuana appears to be unique in that it controls all the symptoms at the
same time, said Connors.
Connors said he doesn't know why the pot works - it may block some receptors
in the brain for the harmful levels of hormone - or if it would work in a
similar fashion for other patients.
He said he'd never heard of pot as a treatment for the symptoms of adrenal
cancer prior to meeting Kubby, about a month ago.
In Kubby's case, however, the marijuana does have a medicinal effect, said
Connors.
Last week, Kubby's hearing was adjourned by a judge for the second time,
from Aug. 6 to Aug. 19.
After that, Michele Kubby says she and her husband won't bother waiting for
permission to grow the pot her husband needs. "We're just going to grow
it," she said.
The Kubby's, high-profile medicinal pot activists from California, moved to
the Sunshine Coast last year with their children, aged six and two.
Steve Kubby was arrested on an immigration warrant in April after coming to
the attention of Sechelt RCMP in media reports about medicinal marijuana.
U.S. officials want Steve Kubby to serve a four-month jail sentence for a
California conviction for possessing a trace amount of hallucinogenic
mushroom.
The Kubby's say that isn't possible because Kubby wouldn't be allowed access
to the marijuana they say is keeping him alive.
Following immigration hearing on the Lower Mainland, the couple returned to
the Coast and applied for political refugee status as members of a
persecuted group.
Pubdate: Sun, 11 Aug 2002
Source: Coast Reporter (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Coast Reporter
Contact: Jane Seyd <janeeditor@dccnet.com>
Website: https://www.suncoastbc.net/news_info/index.html
which would legally allow him to smoke marijuana and enlisted the support of
a B.C. cancer specialist as he gears up for a legal fight over his medical
marijuana use.
Kubby, who faces criminal charges of cultivating pot in Sechelt, plans to
ask the B.C. Supreme Court for an exemption to Canada's drug laws, that
would allow him to smoke pot, on "life and death" medical grounds.
Kubby also wants to ask the judge to order police to hand back pot seized by
Sechelt RCMP.
Kubby, who suffers from a rare form of adrenal gland cancer, says smoking
pot is the only thing that protects him from heart attacks and strokes which
can result when his cancer cells start producing extra adrenaline and other
hormones.
Kubby is basing his legal case on a recent decision by a B.C. Supreme Court
judge which appeared to set a precedent for a lower standard for medicinal
pot use.
Police raided Wes Winchester's home in September of 2000 and seized 96
plants, charging Winchester with cultivation and trafficking. But on June
25, a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed drug charges against Winchester who
suffers from AIDS and three types of hepatitis, saying his post smoking is
"reasonably necessary for therapeutic use". Winchester's lawyer argued
smoking marijuana is the only way his client can keep his daily cocktail of
67 pills down.
Recently, Kubby won support for his legal battle from Dr. Joseph Connors, a
clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and
medical oncologist at the B.C. Cancer Agency.
Connors said Kubby's pot smoking controls the blood pressure spikes, rapid
heart beats, severe headaches and chest pains which can result when his
adrenal cancer cells produce too much adrenaline or other hormones.
Marijuana appears to be unique in that it controls all the symptoms at the
same time, said Connors.
Connors said he doesn't know why the pot works - it may block some receptors
in the brain for the harmful levels of hormone - or if it would work in a
similar fashion for other patients.
He said he'd never heard of pot as a treatment for the symptoms of adrenal
cancer prior to meeting Kubby, about a month ago.
In Kubby's case, however, the marijuana does have a medicinal effect, said
Connors.
Last week, Kubby's hearing was adjourned by a judge for the second time,
from Aug. 6 to Aug. 19.
After that, Michele Kubby says she and her husband won't bother waiting for
permission to grow the pot her husband needs. "We're just going to grow
it," she said.
The Kubby's, high-profile medicinal pot activists from California, moved to
the Sunshine Coast last year with their children, aged six and two.
Steve Kubby was arrested on an immigration warrant in April after coming to
the attention of Sechelt RCMP in media reports about medicinal marijuana.
U.S. officials want Steve Kubby to serve a four-month jail sentence for a
California conviction for possessing a trace amount of hallucinogenic
mushroom.
The Kubby's say that isn't possible because Kubby wouldn't be allowed access
to the marijuana they say is keeping him alive.
Following immigration hearing on the Lower Mainland, the couple returned to
the Coast and applied for political refugee status as members of a
persecuted group.
Pubdate: Sun, 11 Aug 2002
Source: Coast Reporter (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Coast Reporter
Contact: Jane Seyd <janeeditor@dccnet.com>
Website: https://www.suncoastbc.net/news_info/index.html
