MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Prosecuted Advocate Asks for Attorney General’s Help
A medical marijuana advocate is asking the California attorney general to dismiss his prosecution by Placer County officials, arguing that his rights have been violated, the Sacramento Bee reports. Steve Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, said the possession-for-sale charges filed against him are unwarranted because he has a doctor's permission to use the drug, as permitted under Proposition 215 -- also known as the Compassionate Use Act -- which passed in 1996. The act decriminalized the cultivation of the plant for medical use for the terminally ill. Kubby, who is a "legally disabled terminal cancer patient," said, "My wife and I are victims of those who seek to gut Prop. 215 and punish those behind it." In a letter addressed to the court, Kubby's doctor wrote that marijuana "not only controlled the symptoms of (Kubby's cancer), but [in the doctor's view] has arrested its growth." Kubby has filed an official complaint with state Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) arguing that because of his cancer, he needs to "consume about seven pounds of marijuana a year." At issue is the raid last January at Kubby's home and incarceration by Placer County law enforcement officials that "almost killed him, destroyed his primary source of income and forced him out of his home into bankruptcy." Prosecutors maintain that Kubby's 265 in-home plants "exceeded the number necessary to meet his medical needs" (Wilson, 1/6).
Too Much Pot?
Another medical marijuana advocate, Todd McCormick, was arrested Monday for violating the terms of his bail on marijuana related charges, the Los Angeles Times reports. McCormick was arrested in 1997 when authorities found more than 4,000 marijuana plants growing in his Bel Air mansion. He pleaded guilty last November after a federal judge ruled he could not use "medical necessity as a defense." Actor Woody Harrelson, an ardent medical marijuana advocate, posted a $500,000 bail for McCormick, but may lose the bond if the government's bail revocation motion is granted. In the meantime, Orange County law enforcement officials arrested McCormick for another offense, this time speeding at 90-mph on an Orange County freeway. But during his car chase hearing, it was discovered that McCormick violated his bail agreement by failing to tell authorities that he had moved out of Harrelson's home (1/4).