Placer County jail. This Google site search pulls up many jail links:
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.placer.ca.gov+jail

Excerpts from this long Jan. 27, 2006 Richard Cowan article:
http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=880

Quote:

---

...
Steve Kubby was arrested last night [Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006] when he arrived in San Francisco, despite the fact that he was accompanied by his lawyer, Bill McPike, who as “an officer of the court” – which all American attorneys are – was committed to returning him to Placer County for a hearing on Tuesday morning.

This morning [Friday, Jan. 27, 2006] he was moved to Placer County jail, where he nearly died in 1999, when he and his wife were first arrested. Of course, he is not being given medical cannabis, and his life is in constant danger. There is simply no way of knowing how long his body can withstand the recurring attacks of extremely high blood pressure to which he is subject as the result of his adrenal cancer.
See
Steve Kubby Is the Only One In This Story Who Has NOT Broken The Law, But He Faces the Death Penalty.
[ http://marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=874 ]

Fortunately, California has a very vocal medical cannabis community and they will be keeping up the pressure on Placer County officials, who – like most predators – prefer to work in the dark. One also hopes that my fellow Libertarians will also rise to defend one of their own, although they tend to prefer abstractions to vulgar reality.

Nonetheless, there is still a need – and a moral imperative – for everyone to keep up the pressure on Placer County. See the contact info below.

As bad as things are, they could have been much worse had Steve turned himself in at the border as the Canadian Border Services had originally ordered. There is apparently no federal warrant for Steve, which is good news, but that also means that – if he had been arrested at the border – it could have taken weeks for him to be transported to Placer County via the prisoner transfer racket known among prisoners and their families by the ironic term “diesel therapy.” Steve would not survive such an ordeal. He would have been held incommunicado in a series of county jails without any medical attention.

Once again, it is Seattle attorney Douglas Hiatt to whom we all owe a great debt of gratitude. It was he who warned the Kubbys not to go to the border. Doug saved Steve Tuck’s life by standing up for him in Seattle and by keeping up the pressure on Humboldt County while law enforcement there fought amongst themselves over what they could get away with in the Tuck case. ...

---

Call the Prosecutor:
The Placer County District Attorney is Bradford R. Fenocchio.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/da

Ask for either Chris Cattran, the Assistant DA, or Mr. Fenocchio.

Placer County webpages and info:
http://www.placer.ca.gov

District Attorney -- Placer County, Calif.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/da

Bradford R. Fenocchio
Placer County District Attorney
11562 B Avenue
Auburn, CA 95603
(530) 889-7000
(530) 889-7129 fax
bfenocch@placer.ca.gov

Contact Placer County. Many contact links.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/quick/contact_us.htm

Office of Emergency Services (OES) -- Placer County, Calif.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/emergency/emergenc.htm


http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/uploads/1204051-placer.jpg

Source for map with Placer County marked on a California map:
http://www.placer.ca.gov/maps/county-in-ca.htm

Placer County Jail. Dropdown menus have many links. Local map to find jail.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/jail/

Map is from this page. Placer County Jail. Dropdown menus have many links.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/jail

Main Jail Physical Address:
2775 Richardson Dr
Auburn CA 95603
Phone: (530) 745-8500

Minimum Security Address:
11441 F Ave
Auburn CA 95603
Phone: (530)889-6930


http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/uploads/1204056-jail2.gif

It looks like the activist and media pressure worked! Steve Kubby was laughed at in jail when he first asked for Marinol. But the media and activist spotlight changes things. The government prefers to do its killing in the dark.

ASA = Americans for Safe Access.

-----Excerpt from archived ASA message begins.----
http://lists.safeaccessnow.org/lists/arc/asa-ca/2006-01/msg00004.html

From: Rebecca Saltzman <rebecca@safeaccessnow.org>
To: asa-ca@lists.safeaccessnow.org, dpfca@drugsense.org, camjp@lists.riseup.net
Subject: [asa-ca] ASA CA Weekly Alert
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 19:01:12 -0800

...

From Dale Gieringer:
Good news - After much pain & anguish Attorney Bill McPike reports that Steve Kubby is to receive Marinol in the Placer County Jail! There will be an arraignment and/or hearings on Tuesday at 1 PM and possibly 8:30 AM at the Placer Co. Courthouse in Auburn. Here's how to contribute to Steve's commissary:.

OK - anybody can put money on Steve's books for commissary & health items. These must be US postal money order. No letters may accompany the money orders. Letters of support may be sent to the same address.

MOs should be made out to Steve Kubby.

Steve Kubby BK 49899
c/o Placer Co Jail
2775 Richardson Drive
Auburn, CA 95603

His arraignment is set for 1 pm, on Tuesday 1/31, although we had set a hearing at 8:30 am for his surrender. I will be there at 8:30 am, to see if we are still calendared.

--------end of ASA email excerpt------

Here are some local ASA contacts for California:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=242

Here are local ASA contacts for any state in the USA:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=50
On that page click an any state on the map.


http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/uploads/1204064-map.jpg

Enter your email address from any of the SafeAccessNow.org pages to sign up for various email lists.
Homepage: http://www.safeaccessnow.org
Many lists: http://safeaccessnow.org/emaillists
If you are using the MS Internet Explorer browser, then you may need to turn on ActiveX to sign up for the lists (put your browser to default medium security). And/or you may need to allow cookies from safeaccessnow.org

Here is another way to access many ASA email lists.
http://lists.safeaccessnow.org/lists/lists
You may or may not need to login to open up the individual archived messages for those email lists that have archives. You can login after you have signed up for any of the email lists. No need for ActiveX to view the archived messages. There is a link there to "create account", and only an email address is required to sign up to an email list.

For some email lists one can see the titles of the archived messages without logging in. Click on any of the list links, and then click "view archive."
http://lists.safeaccessnow.org/lists/lists

ASA's California Organizing Alerts. Email list info:
http://lists.safeaccessnow.org/lists/info/asa-ca
January 2006 archive:
http://lists.safeaccessnow.org/lists/arc/asa-ca/2006-01/mail1.html

Click on the "chronological" button. The date format then used is year/month/day. You may or may not need to login to view the contents of a message.

Oh god, that's wonderful!

Has Steve used Marinol before? Does he know how much it helps? I hope it helps a lot!!!

Good questions, Siphersh. I don't know the answers.

Quote:

---

Kubby's oncologist in Canada expressed worries Friday that his rare form of cancer, pheochromocytoma, could threaten his life if he isn't allowed to continue using cannabis. Since the cancer was diagnosed a quarter century ago, Kubby, 59, has smoked up to a dozen marijuana cigarettes a day.

"The possibilities of what might happen are of a wide range, either from nothing much at all to that he might become sick and die," said Dr. Joseph Connors, an oncologist and University of British Columbia clinical professor.

Connors said there was no reason to subject Kubby to that risk. The cancer specialist has examined Kubby extensively and said he believed marijuana has kept the worst symptoms of his cancer in check.

"There's no other reasonable explanation for how he's done so well for so many years," Connors said.

Connors said a tumor in Kubby releases dangerous levels of substances called catecholamines — colloquially known as adrenalin — into his blood. Results can range from heart palpitations and shortness of breath to heart attack, stroke or even death in a "catecholamine storm," Connors said.

---

The above quote is from this really good, detailed, article below.

----article begins------
web page

Los Angeles Times.

January 28, 2006

Medical Marijuana Activist Returns to State, Is Arrested

Steve Kubby, who fled to Canada in 2001, planned to surrender Tuesday but is taken from plane.

By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer

AUBURN, Calif. — Five years after fleeing to Canada to avoid jail, medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby returned here in handcuffs Friday facing an uncertain future and a stint behind bars that his doctor contends might prove a death sentence.

Law enforcement officers whisked Kubby off a commercial jet at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday evening, and friends said he soon began to feel the effects of his rare form of adrenal cancer while in custody.

"I got a call from Steve from jail, and he said he was suffering," said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a cannabis advocacy group. "It doesn't have to work this way."

Several physicians who have examined Kubby, a former Libertarian candidate for governor and a driving force behind California's victorious 1996 medical marijuana initiative, contend the drug blunts the worst symptoms of his cancer, which can be fatal.

Kubby, who last week exhausted his final appeals to remain in Canada, had expected to voluntarily surrender to authorities in Auburn, the Placer County seat, after a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Bill McPike, a Fresno attorney who accompanied Kubby on his flight from Vancouver, said the arrest after the Alaska Airlines flight took them by surprise.

"Maybe they didn't trust he'd show up," said McPike, who plans to argue in court for Kubby to be allowed cannabis in jail. "But why would he buy a $900 plane ticket to come back to surrender and then not appear?"

Placer County officials said police in San Francisco were following through on an arrest warrant issued years ago for Kubby, who failed to appear to serve 120 days in jail on drug charges when he fled in 2001.

"For some time he's had a felony warrant out," said Dena Erwin, a Placer County sheriff's spokeswoman. "We notified San Francisco and left it up to them how they'd make the arrest."

Kubby's oncologist in Canada expressed worries Friday that his rare form of cancer, pheochromocytoma, could threaten his life if he isn't allowed to continue using cannabis. Since the cancer was diagnosed a quarter century ago, Kubby, 59, has smoked up to a dozen marijuana cigarettes a day.

"The possibilities of what might happen are of a wide range, either from nothing much at all to that he might become sick and die," said Dr. Joseph Connors, an oncologist and University of British Columbia clinical professor.

Connors said there was no reason to subject Kubby to that risk. The cancer specialist has examined Kubby extensively and said he believed marijuana has kept the worst symptoms of his cancer in check.

"There's no other reasonable explanation for how he's done so well for so many years," Connors said.

Connors said a tumor in Kubby releases dangerous levels of substances called catecholamines — colloquially known as adrenalin — into his blood. Results can range from heart palpitations and shortness of breath to heart attack, stroke or even death in a "catecholamine storm," Connors said.

But Erwin said Kubby would not be allowed to use marijuana in jail, adding, "We're a no-smoking facility."

Kubby was sentenced in March 2001 to four months in jail for possession of a peyote button and one hallucinogenic mushroom after jurors acquitted him of more serious charges of selling pot grown at his home near the Squaw Valley ski resort.

Amid wrangling with authorities over the sentence, Kubby moved with his family to British Columbia in May 2001 and tried to fight from afar.

Around the time Kubby left, judges in Placer County ordered his original misdemeanor conviction for possession of the peyote boosted to a felony. Kubby has called the ruling a miscarriage of justice pushed by law officers bent on punishing him for championing the state's medical marijuana law.

Christopher Cattran, a Placer County deputy district attorney, noted that an appeal by Kubby of the stiffer sentence was rejected by the state's 3rd District Court of Appeal.

"He keeps bringing all these things up, and there's nothing to base it on," Cattran said.

The appellate court declared Kubby a fugitive, and he now could face three years in prison for felony possession of mescaline, a hallucinogen found in the button of mescal cactus, or peyote. Kubby has maintained that the peyote discovered during a raid of his home was left in a guest bedroom by a visitor.

"I really do fear for the worst for Steve," said his wife, Michele, who remained in Canada with the couple's two young daughters. "Things are grim. I'm struggling to find hope in this situation."

The family wanted to stay in Canada, she said. But an attempt to win refugee status by Kubby and several other medicinal marijuana users who fled the U.S. flopped in the immigration courts.

Out of options, Kubby left Canada amid a festive atmosphere and mob of supporters Thursday afternoon at Vancouver International Airport.

McPike said the flight was uneventful, but after pulling up to the gate the pilot told passengers to remain seated and Kubby was called forward.

McPike then walked to the front of the plane, where he met police officers and U.S. Customs Service agents.

They warned him to return to his seat and ordered Kubby off the plane.

Kubby was rushed by police to San Mateo County Jail, where he spent the night. Placer County sheriff's deputies picked up Kubby on Friday morning and took him to Auburn.

-------article ends-------

Placer County jailers are not to be trusted.

Quote:

---

72 Hours of Unmedicated Incarceration
"During the entire three days I was incarcerated in the Auburn jail," Kubby details in his complaint, "my tormentors mocked me and my wife as medical-marijuana patients, going out of their way to punish us. Both of us were exposed to freezing conditions, and my wife contracted pneumonia as a result.

"I spent the entire night shivering and vomiting and could not even get a second blanket for my concrete holding cell. I recall one of my tormentors was a tall, muscular deputy named 'Davis,' who threatened me physically because I was too sick to complete the intake procedure.

"... I also filed a written objection about my left eye going blind, and not receiving even a medical examination."

---

Above quote is from the article below.

-----January 2000 High Times website article begins-----
http://www.kubby.com/000118HighTimes.html

How To Murder A Medical-Marijuana Political Prisoner

FILED 01/18/00

Over just three days in jail, Kubby suffered a series of classic hypertensive crises. He could have had a crippling stroke, or died from cardiac arrest. And the police knew all about his condition.

Barely a month before his medical-marijuana trial, due to start on February 15 [2000] in Auburn, CA, Steve Kubby is methodically arranging to put his arresting officers and prosecutors themselves in the defense dock after him. Last week the 1998 Libertarian Party candidate for California Governor filed charges of attempted murder against several individual Placer County law officers, detailing in graphic, prosecutorial detail how close they came to killing him after his arrest there on January 19, 1999.


[Photo caption:]
Steve and Michele Kubby with 'Anna Boyce, RN', Founders of the American Medical Marijuana Association.

Kubby, current national director of the American Medical Marijuana Association, specifies in his complaint how the Placer County authorities had to be aware when they arrested him that he suffers from a malignant form of adrenal-gland cancer which, if left unmedicated for only a few hours, could cripple or kill him by a sudden hypertensive stroke or heart attack. During the three days they kept him unmedicated in the Auburn jail after his arrest, Kubby suffered a series of classic hyertensive crises, vomiting uncontrollably and going blind in one eye. Repeated written appeals he made went ignored, Kubby states, by his keepers at the jail. In fact, as the complaint details, Kubby and his wife Michele (also a medical patient) were viciously mocked and taunted by Placer County officers during their arrests, and afterward in custody.

Mockery of patients by arresting officers, and refusal of medications while incarcerated, are hardly unusual in California medical-pot prosecutions, and in fact appear to be a premeditated police routine in many rural jurisdictions like Placer County. In the case of Steve Kubby, however, the evidence is clear that his prosecutors had to be explicitly aware in advance that his particular medical condition could easily have killed him while in their custody unmedicated. Moreover his sole medication--cannabis--is uniquely efficacious at treating his unique condition, as attested by his physicians. And how should the cops have known that? Because Kubby advised them of it himself, weeks before he was arrested, in his garbage.

A Political Bust Uncovers A Medical Miracle
The investigation of Steve and Michele Kubby at their Squaw Valley home in Placer County was predicated on an anonymous letter, accusing them vaguely of being pot users, which was received in mid-1998 by the sheriff of El Dorado County, far downstate. This letter was routinely "handed off" to Placer County authorities by an El Dorado detective who clearly cautioned, "The information is weak and non-specific." Nonetheless, Placer authorities used this anonymous accusation as the pretext to open a case on Steve Kubby, who at the time was running for governor on the Libertarian Party platform, hotly criticizing the erstwhile Republican Attorney General of California, Dan Lungren, for prosecuting medical-marijuana patients in contravention of the state's 1996 medical-marijuana law. Since Lungren and his family were (and are) long-term residents of Placer County, and politically very influential in the GOP-dominated administration there, Kubby has always viewed his prosecution as basically a political "payback" for helping to unseat AG Lungren and the rest of the Sacramento GOP administration in the November 1998 elections.

Of course, not everyone in the Placer County administration is a card-carrying Republican, and within days after the police there opened their case on Kubby, he got wind of it, he explains in his court challenge. Aware that the police would be snooping through his garbage (which in fact they were doing), he purposely left messages they could not possibly have overlooked, identifying his medical condition and outlining the consequences if his medication routine were interrupted even for a few hours.

Kubby's specific condition, which is described at length in medical documents in his court papers, is a malignant form of "pheochromocytoma," involving cancerous forms of adrenal-gland cells which migrate through the body, producing uncontrollable blood levels of powerful adrenal hormones like adrenaline (epinephrine), and norepenephrine. Persons afflicted with malignant pheochromocytoma typically die within months after diagnosis, usually from extreme hypertensive crises like cerebral stroke or cardiac arrest, caused by overwhelming sudden bloodstream surges of epinephrine and NR.

Cops And Docs Converge On Kubby
Steve Kubby, however, is still alive and in excellent health nearly 16 years after his initial diagnosis with malignant pheochromocytoma: the only such case on medical record, in fact. Ironically, the doctor who diagnosed him in 1984 with this notoriously terminal condition--Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, now a leading adrenal-cancer expert at the University of Southern California Medical Center--had no idea that he'd somehow survived with this deadly illness, until DeQuattro saw Kubby's picture and biography in the official California Voter's Guide to the 1998 elections. Astonished, DeQuattro contacted Kubby before the election and arranged to have him examined--at about the very same time, ironically, that the Placer County authorities began surveilling the Kubbys' Squaw Valley home for evidence of marijuana cultivation.


The North Tahoe Task Force

And so it happened that when the paramilitary North Tahoe Task Force raided Kubby's home on Jan. 19, they found plenty of notices posted in clear view on the premises, entitled ATTENTION LAW ENFORCEMENT, that detailed the nature of his illness, his legally authorized use of marijuana for it, and the likely consequences for him of incarceration without medication. It will be interesting to see, then, what defenses these officers may raise in answer to Kubby's allegations of attempted murder.

72 Hours of Unmedicated Incarceration
"During the entire three days I was incarcerated in the Auburn jail," Kubby details in his complaint, "my tormentors mocked me and my wife as medical-marijuana patients, going out of their way to punish us. Both of us were exposed to freezing conditions, and my wife contracted pneumonia as a result.

"I spent the entire night shivering and vomiting and could not even get a second blanket for my concrete holding cell. I recall one of my tormentors was a tall, muscular deputy named 'Davis,' who threatened me physically because I was too sick to complete the intake procedure.

"On January 21st, I was in my cell vomiting into the toilet and, against my repeated objections, I was forced to attend breakfast where my bouts of vomiting could be witnessed by the rest of the inmates who were trying to eat their meal. I recall this deputy had a name similar to 'Zanzabar,' and he insisted on me attending breakfast despite my written objection. I also filed a written objection about my left eye going blind, and not receiving even a medical examination."

They Didn't KNOW?
In their defense, it could be argued that Kubby's jailhouse keepers, at least, could have been ignorant of his unique medical history. Dr. DeQuattro, examining Kubby nearly 16 after his terminal diagnosis, securely determined that over all that time, marijuana was the only medication he'd been taking. Having undergone initial remission after "chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and all other known drugs" specific for pheochromocytoma, Kubby determined that for the long run, "only marijuana has helped, and I depend on it to stay alive."

"In some amazing fashion," Di Quattro subsequently advised the judge in Kubby's case, "this medication has not only controlled the symptoms of pheochromocytoma, but in my view, has arrested growth" of the cancer. "Every other patient than Steve, with Steve's condition, has died in the interval of time [that Kubby has had the disease.] Steve was the only survivor."

DeQuattro's letter to the judge, attached as an exhibit in Kubby's complaint, calls his survival "a miracle," and stipulates that "this miracle, in part, is related to the therapy with marijuana. Marijuana contains many substances which can neutralize the effects of epinephrine and norepenephrine on the heart and vascular tissue. Several are important anti-oxidants, like vitamins C and vitamin E."

That is, some of the cannabinoids in marijuana have long been shown to have the same effects as vitamins in counteracting the generation and spread of cancerous "neoplasms" in the human body, like the rogue adrenal cells produced in malignant pheochromocytosis. And cannabinoids have also been shown to counteract the hypertensive effects of the stimulant hormones overproduced by those rogue adrenal-cancer cells.

And what happens if those cannabinoids aren't available? Kubby's condition will go on erratically producing surges of NR, Dr. DeQuattro's letter warns, and possibly epinephrine as well: "Either compound in minute quantities could kill him instantly by causing sudden cardiac arrest due to navythmia, sudden cardiac death due to acute myocardial infarction, or sudden death due to cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral vascular occlusion."

Preston Peet - Special to HT News

--------end of article--------

Currently on Google News homepage:
http://news.google.com

Quote:

---

Medical Marijuana Activist Returns to State, Is Arrested
Los Angeles Times - 5 hours ago
Steve Kubby, who fled to Canada in 2001, planned to surrender Tuesday but is taken from plane. By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer. AUBURN, Calif. — Five years after fleeing to Canada to avoid jail, medical ...
Pot user sent to US Calgary Sun
Pot activist obeys deportation order to US Globe and Mail
San Francisco Chronicle - Hammer of Truth - CBC British Columbia (Audio) - Houston Chronicle - all 127 related »
GameSHOUT [under photo on right]

---

----------------

A few minutes later it is still a Google News top story, but with San Francisco Chronicle story on top of the entry:

Quote:

---

Pot advocate arrested at SFO after arriving from Canada
San Francisco Chronicle - Jan 26, 2006
Marijuana advocate and former gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby, a fugitive for several years, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday night on a plane that arrived from Canada, San Francisco police said. ...
Pot activist obeys deportation order to US Globe and Mail
Pot user sent to US Calgary Sun
Auburn Journal - Sacramento Bee - CBS 13 - All Headline News - all 127 related »
USA Today [under photo on right]

---

-----------

More Marinol info found in another email list. McPike is Steve Kubby's lawyer.

Quote:

---

>From: "McPike"
>To: "Dale Gieringer"
> Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 15:26:42 -0800
>
>
>I was at Redwood Court 8:30 am & a judge had his clerk
>search for Steve. They found one entry that he had
>been picked up at 7:06am today by Placer SO.
>
>Just confirmed he's in Placer Jail & Michele said
>he got his Marinol Rx delivered. Jost spoke to the
>Jail Medical Dir & she says she got his Rx.

---

---------

There are some serious questions as to whether Marinol will be adequate.

Thanks alot for the updates. I hope very much that the Marinol will be good against the vomiting at least. THC is the main anti-nausea component, isn't it.

I will write e-mails. Which US and Canadian newspapers to write to? Is there an e-mail address collection for this purpose? And which article should I refer to in the e-mails? I don't want to write long letters on my own, just want to participate in alerting the media. And I will tell the others here, to do the same. I am not American or Canadian, but maybe we can contribute to pointing out the extreme outrageousness of this all.

It is worrying that Marinol is accepted as a substitute in this case- apparently even by the defense. There is a track record of the effacacy of cannabis and the stark danger of going without. Is there one for Marinol (did Steve try it for a while)? What purpose- legal, medical or tactical- is served by this substitution? Has the defense outright asked for cannabis specifically and been turned down? I have only seen a request for Marinol.

Could someone remind me of the relevant law controlling prison access to medical cannabis- I remember reading there was one. If the law is what I think it is, his doctor should be able to specify even the most efficacious strain.

My understanding is that no one has been able to get anything other than Marinol legally into a U.S. jail or prison yet. Maybe others know more about the legal attempts so far, and can comment.

People can use the MAP-DrugNews media directory for getting email addresses, and contact info. For writing letters to the editor, etc.. Look up media awareness project directory in Google. Here it is:
http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm

Here are some more links to pass on:

Hammer of Truth » An Update from Michele Kubby.
http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/01/28/an-update-from-michele-kubby

Info is being added regularly here too:
http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/showflat.php?Number=1203672

Booking details. Scroll down to Steve Kubby in the list:
http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/jail/jailreports/incustbookingdetails_K.htm

Placer County jail. Visitation Schedule.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/jail/visit.htm

Google News search shortcut:
http://news.google.com/news?q=steve+kubby
Can put quotes around "steve kubby" to narrow the results.

Media Awareness Project Source Directory. Google search at the bottom, too.
http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm

-----------

-------article begins--------

Hammer of Truth » An Update from Michele Kubby
http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/01/28/an-update-from-michele-kubby

An Update from Michele Kubby [her email starts farther down]

I spoke Michael Badnarik and Aaron Russo in Phoenix last night. Like everyone else, they are both real concerned about the plight of Steve Kubby. As we provided in the last Kubby update, Steve is able to take Marinol (not that it will solve all his problems, but it might keep him alive for a while) right now. My wife is a doctor, and has software on her PalmPilot which tells her the average national cost of most medications. She looked up Marinol, and the cost for thirty 10mg tablets is around $550. We have no idea what Kubby’s dosage is, but if he takes one 10mg twice a day (typical dosage), that’s $1100 per month. The Kubbys could use your help.

Michele sent me an e-mail and said she will call me today, so I’ll be able to relay to her how supportive all of you have been, and perhaps get a bit more of an update on Steve’s status. In the meantime, here is the e-mail she sent out to friends and supporters:

I just spoke with Steve for the first time this evening [Friday, Jan. 27, 2006] since 4 pm on Thursday, while he waited for his flight.

He got booked into the Placer jail late this afternoon [Friday, Jan. 27, 2006]. He is currently being housed in the infirmary. Through the good graces of Dr. Tod Mikuriya, financial help from gracious funders and dedicated locals in Auburn, I was able to procure Marinol for Steve.

When Steve first entered the jail, his blood pressure had risen to 170/120. The jail medical staff were concerned and administered the Marinol. Steve says he feels his blood pressure lowering, but he can tell that Marinol is not going to be effective in the long run. Dr. Connors, Steve’s BC Cancer Agency doctor, spoke with the LA Times and told them that Marinol will not be effective if he needs to take it for awhile because he needs the cannabinoids. Dr. Connors also cautioned that Steve could be in severe danger in a short amount of time if he is not protected from the chemicals flowing through his body.

Steve sounds strong, now. This arrest was different from the previous two because he was prepared. Bill McPike got him ready to be arrested upon his arrival so, being prepared, the stress was less.

You see, what is so challenging about his disease is that when he has a flight or fright stress response, the adrenal chemicals that have gotten stored in his nervous system are released. It is this sudden release of these deadly chemicals during a stressful situation that cause the life threatening situations.

It is difficult to get law enforcement to understand medical marijuana and the needs of med pot patients. I can understand why there is a lack of understanding, law enforcement are not trained in the medical profession.

In prison, law enforcement has had different reactions to Steve. Some are sympathetic, others go out of their way to remind him that he no longer has any rights and is a prisoner. Some completely ignore that Steve has a medical problem and needs special care. One female officer would not let Steve cover himself with blanket while she interrogated him, even though he teeth were chattering and the blanket was sitting right next to him. When Steve gets chills, he is inclined to get pneumonia.

Mostly though, it is the ignorance of a medical marijuana patient’s needs that is the biggest hurdle to overcome. It is as if we live in parallel universes and we don’t want to cross the line to understand each other. This misunderstanding is what is causing so much pain and suffering.

I can only hope that our particular situation can shed light on the darkness surrounding this issue. Steve is willing to put his life on the line so that others will not have too.

We are truly blessed that we have such wonderful supporters and friends. So many others have suffered far worse abuse than Steve and I have - in silence. I just hope that, through shedding light on our suffering, others will be able to be spared what we are going through. I have given up wondering why there is such a violent reaction to someone peacefully puffing on a cannabis cigarette, if I didn’t, I think I would go insane with the absurdity of it all.

Steve only gets one free phone call, I’m not sure when I will hear from him again.

Currently, he is scheduled to have an arraignment hearing in Placer at 1 pm on Tuesday, January 31st.

This hearing is going to be an arraignment hearing on his misdemeanor violation of probation. Bill McPike, Steve’s attorney, has indicated that Cattran, the prosecutor, will probably ask for more time.

I will not be able to attend. I have many duties trying to pack up our old life and wait around to find out what our new life will be like. In the end, it is the family on the outside who suffers the most. Our house seems empty and chill. As soon as I saw Steve’s clothes scattered about like he is apt to do, I burst into tears. I don’t know how this will end, but I believe that it will be alright.

I am going to be offline after Monday, I’m not sure when I’ll be up again. I can be reached all weekend via e-mail.

I couldn’t do this without all of your good wishes and support. Thank you for being there.

-Michele

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Here is Steve's booking info:
http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/jail/jailreports/incustbookingdetails_K.htm
Scroll down list to Steve Kubby.

Name: Kubby, Steven Wynn

Age/Gender: 59/Male

Jail ID/Booking No: P00049899/0601064#

Facility/Floor: PC/N

Book Date: 1/27/2006 14:41

Arresting Agency: Placer County Sheriffs Department

Custody Status: In Custody

Authority: Charge(s): Bail:

Bench Warrant 1. 11377 (A)HS Possess Controlled Substance

Total Bail: 0

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