Fighting for His Life and Our Freedom: The Story of Steve Kubby
On August 20, 2006, Steven Wynn Kubby (at the 15th Annual Hempfest in Seattle, Washington) announced his bid to become the Libertarian Party’s nominee for President of the United States of America in the 2008 presidential election. On September 18, 2006, Kubby filed the necessary papers with the Federal Election Commission to make this run for the nation’s highest office official. This is not Kubby’s first foray into politics. He previously helped pioneer California’s landmark medical marijuana law, Proposition 215, in 1996. He also ran for California Governor in 1998 and sought the Libertarian Party’s nomination for Vice President in 2000.
But politics is not the only thing in Kubby’s blood; cancer lives there, too. Kubby has a rare form of adrenal cancer called malignant pheochromocytoma, which has no cure, except, apparently, marijuana. According to the late USC Medical Center's Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, Kubby is the only known person in the world to survive as long as he has with this illness, and his survival is directly attributable to the use of medical marijuana.
Kubby’s use of medical marijuana spurred him to help pass the first medical marijuana law in the country in 1996, California’s Proposition 215. This public service got Kubby busted. After a tip from an “anonymous informant,” on January 20, 1999, Kubby was arrested on charges relating to the cultivation of marijuana. While in custody, Kubby was abused and threatened with violence. He lost over 15 pounds due to his inability to medicate with marijuana.
On March 19, 1999, Kubby entered a plea of not guilty to these politically charged charges. In January 2000, Kubby filed a complaint with the California Attorney General regarding his mistreatment by police. On December 21, 2000, a jury deadlocked over the marijuana charges, but convicted Kubby of possession of peyote and psilocin. Facing three years in prison, a practical death sentence, Kubby sought asylum in Canada.
On April 16, 2002, Kubby was arrested in Canada and spent three days in jail. Kubby lost 20 pounds while incarcerated, because he was denied the use of cannabis by Canadian authorities. By September 2002, Kubby successfully fought to grow marijuana under Canada’s medical cannabis laws while he went through Canada’s appeal process. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration was pressuring Canada to extradite Kubby to Placer County to face a 120-day jail sentence.
Despite medical evidence indicating that Kubby might die without marijuana, on December 8, 2003, the Canadian government denied Kubby’s application for asylum. After exhausting his appeals, Kubby was ordered by Canada’s government to leave that country and face charges in the United States. On January 26, 2006, Kubby was arrested at a San Francisco airport and immediately jailed. After 62-days and the loss of 30 pounds, Kubby was released from custody. Kubby credits the use of synthetic marijuana as the only thing that kept him from dying while incarcerated.
To recover from this ordeal, Kubby retreated to private life. By June 21, 2006, however, the cancer in Kubby’s blood had subsided enough for the politics to boil up again. On that day Kubby wrote a letter to his supporters indicating an intention to run for County Supervisor; however, his supporters quickly replied that he could do more as the commander-in-chief. Kubby, unlike other politicians, actually listened.
Inspired by such candor, on September 1, 2006, Tom Knapp of the Rational Review wrote that the Libertarian Party nomination for president was Kubby’s to lose. On September 8, 2006, former director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), Richard Cowan, also endorsed Kubby’s bid for president, calling the effort a matter of “life and liberty.”
Since then Kubby has been diligently campaigning and getting the attention of, among others, William Redpath, the National Chairman of the Libertarian Party. All the while, Kubby is fighting cancer; trying to stay alive. As Kubby fights for his life, he also fights for our freedom.
If you appreciate Kubby’s effort, then support his campaign. Your contribution will help Kubby say the common sense things that spin-crazy representatives of the two major parties are too afraid to acknowledge, e.g., the war on drugs is a failure. Make a donation, as Richard Cowan says, “as if your life and liberty depends upon it, because it does.” Send donations to “Kubby for President” at PO Box 50, PMB 199, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352-0050 or contribute online at http://www.kubby.com/00-contribute.html.
Kenneth Michael White is an attorney and the author of “The Beginning of Today: The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” and “Buck” (both by PublishAmerica 2004). Visit www.thebeginningoftoday.com for more information.
But politics is not the only thing in Kubby’s blood; cancer lives there, too. Kubby has a rare form of adrenal cancer called malignant pheochromocytoma, which has no cure, except, apparently, marijuana. According to the late USC Medical Center's Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, Kubby is the only known person in the world to survive as long as he has with this illness, and his survival is directly attributable to the use of medical marijuana.
Kubby’s use of medical marijuana spurred him to help pass the first medical marijuana law in the country in 1996, California’s Proposition 215. This public service got Kubby busted. After a tip from an “anonymous informant,” on January 20, 1999, Kubby was arrested on charges relating to the cultivation of marijuana. While in custody, Kubby was abused and threatened with violence. He lost over 15 pounds due to his inability to medicate with marijuana.
On March 19, 1999, Kubby entered a plea of not guilty to these politically charged charges. In January 2000, Kubby filed a complaint with the California Attorney General regarding his mistreatment by police. On December 21, 2000, a jury deadlocked over the marijuana charges, but convicted Kubby of possession of peyote and psilocin. Facing three years in prison, a practical death sentence, Kubby sought asylum in Canada.
On April 16, 2002, Kubby was arrested in Canada and spent three days in jail. Kubby lost 20 pounds while incarcerated, because he was denied the use of cannabis by Canadian authorities. By September 2002, Kubby successfully fought to grow marijuana under Canada’s medical cannabis laws while he went through Canada’s appeal process. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration was pressuring Canada to extradite Kubby to Placer County to face a 120-day jail sentence.
Despite medical evidence indicating that Kubby might die without marijuana, on December 8, 2003, the Canadian government denied Kubby’s application for asylum. After exhausting his appeals, Kubby was ordered by Canada’s government to leave that country and face charges in the United States. On January 26, 2006, Kubby was arrested at a San Francisco airport and immediately jailed. After 62-days and the loss of 30 pounds, Kubby was released from custody. Kubby credits the use of synthetic marijuana as the only thing that kept him from dying while incarcerated.
To recover from this ordeal, Kubby retreated to private life. By June 21, 2006, however, the cancer in Kubby’s blood had subsided enough for the politics to boil up again. On that day Kubby wrote a letter to his supporters indicating an intention to run for County Supervisor; however, his supporters quickly replied that he could do more as the commander-in-chief. Kubby, unlike other politicians, actually listened.
Inspired by such candor, on September 1, 2006, Tom Knapp of the Rational Review wrote that the Libertarian Party nomination for president was Kubby’s to lose. On September 8, 2006, former director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), Richard Cowan, also endorsed Kubby’s bid for president, calling the effort a matter of “life and liberty.”
Since then Kubby has been diligently campaigning and getting the attention of, among others, William Redpath, the National Chairman of the Libertarian Party. All the while, Kubby is fighting cancer; trying to stay alive. As Kubby fights for his life, he also fights for our freedom.
If you appreciate Kubby’s effort, then support his campaign. Your contribution will help Kubby say the common sense things that spin-crazy representatives of the two major parties are too afraid to acknowledge, e.g., the war on drugs is a failure. Make a donation, as Richard Cowan says, “as if your life and liberty depends upon it, because it does.” Send donations to “Kubby for President” at PO Box 50, PMB 199, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352-0050 or contribute online at http://www.kubby.com/00-contribute.html.
Kenneth Michael White is an attorney and the author of “The Beginning of Today: The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” and “Buck” (both by PublishAmerica 2004). Visit www.thebeginningoftoday.com for more information.
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