Pubdate: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 Source: Press Democrat, The (CA) Copyright: 2003 The Press Democrat Contact: http://www.pressdemo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348 Author: Jeremy Hay, The Press Democrat Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1891/a01.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm (Kubby, Steve) CANADA REJECTS MEDICAL POT ASYLUM Former California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Kubby Plans Appeal Of Ruling Denying Refugee Status Former California gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby benefits medically from marijuana, but he doesn't qualify as a political refugee, a Canadian immigration judge said Monday in rejecting Kubby's application for political asylum. "Mr. Kubby has not established he has either a well founded fear of persecution ... or a risk to his life" if he returns to the United States, Judge Paulah Dauns said in her ruling. The ruling could have significant implications for two North Coast men now living in Canada, Kenneth Hayes and Steve Tuck, who face marijuana charges in the United States and have also applied for political refugee status in Canada. Dauns is the judge who will decide their cases. In 2000, Kubby, now 56, was convicted in Placer County on charges of peyote possession, but says he would die in jail without access to marijuana -- the basis for his claim for political refugee status. Kubby -- who smokes pot to suppress his adrenal gland cancer and since fleeing to Canada has become a vocal medical marijuana activist -- said he would appeal the ruling. "I just always feel that we're right and we're going to prevail if we don't give up," he said from his home in British Columbia, where a small but growing group of Americans has settled, escaping U.S. drug charges or what they term unduly harsh anti-drug policies. Although it went against Kubby, Dauns' ruling further illustrated the increasing divide in U.S. and Canadian policies over marijuana use. Kubby would prefer to be told how much marijuana he can "safely grow .. thereby being guaranteed not to be prosecuted," Dauns said in her ruling. "Perhaps this would be the best approach. Certainly it is the approach that Canada has adopted," she wrote. But, she added, California has "very liberal and clear medical marijuana laws." Dauns also said that while Kubby, Hayes and others have argued they would not receive fair trials in the United States, others facing federal marijuana charges received less-than-mandatory sentences. A ruling on Hayes and Tuck's cases is expected soon, a Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board spokeswoman said. Kubby ran for California governor in 1998. He was acquitted of marijuana charges in the same case that resulted in his peyote possession conviction. He has 15 days to apply to Canada's Supreme Court for a review of Daun's decision, refugee board spokeswoman Melissa Anderson said. If the court doesn't review his case, Kubby and his family have 30 days to leave Canada, the country's Citizenship and Immigration department said. Kubby could also apply for a "pre-removal risk assessment," said Lois Reimer, a department spokeswoman, and immigration officials would again investigate whether Kubby faced "cruel or unusual punishment or risk to life" if returned to the United States. Meanwhile, Placer County District Attorney Brad Fenocchio suggested that authorities have other things on their mind than hunting Kubby down. "I can't speak for the sheriff," he said, "but I seriously doubt that the department is going to want to expend the funds to go anywhere to serve this warrant outside the state of California." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake