Pubdate: Sun, 8 Aug 2000 Source: Auburn Journal (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Auburn Journal Contact: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603 Website: http://www.auburnjournal.com/ Author: Pat McCartney, Journal City Editor Cited: Steve and Michele Kubby: http://www.kubby.com/ Bookmark: MAP's link to over a hundred articles about the Kubby case: http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm Note: Condensed version of print article The Kubby Trial The long-delayed trial of former Placer County residents Steve and Michele Kubby is tentatively scheduled to resume a week from Tuesday. Steve Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor of California, has applied his considerable political skills to organizing medical marijuana activists since his January 1999 arrest for growing marijuana at the couple's Olympic Valley home. Part of the prosecution's case involves an accusation that the Kubbys were planning to sell pot to the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Coalition, a charge the Kubbys deny. Instead, the Kubbys say they worked with the Oakland club, which had implemented standards approved by the Oakland City Council, to insure that their own pot garden complied with the guidelines. A week ago, the 9th District Court of Appeals reversed an earlier ruling, lifting an injunction that prohibited the Oakland club from distributing marijuana to eligible recipients. Since then, the federal Justice Department announced that it would appeal the appellate ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which should announce by this fall whether it will intervene in the dispute. While federal opposition to California's Compassionate Use Act continues unabated, the Drug Enforcement Administration made a startling decision in January. Petitioned since 1985 to reclassify marijuana as a drug with therapeutic potential, the federal drug-fighting agency asked health officials to determine whether marijuana should remain a Class I prohibited substance. If health officials agree with recent scientific evidence, the 75-year war against marijuana may be coming to an end. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake