Pubdate: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ EX-CANDIDATE KNEW OF PROBE Libertarian Was Tipped Off Before Marijuana Arrest, Wife Says OLYMPIC VALLEY - Former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby and his wife, Michele, were tipped off months in advance to law enforcement's investigation of their marijuana growing operation, a newspaper reported. Launched by an anonymous letter claiming Kubby was financing his campaign by selling marijuana, the North Tahoe Task Force investigation climaxed Jan. 19 with the arrest of the Kubbys on various marijuana charges. Now, they face charges of cultivating marijuana in their Olympic Valley home, conspiracy and possession with intent to sell. A preliminary conference is set for Feb. 22 in Tahoe Superior Court. The case promises to become one of the highest-profile tests to date of California's Proposition 215, the initiative voters approved in 1996 authorizing the use of marijuana with a physician's approval. Steve Kubby, who has adrenal cancer and was instrumental in qualifying Proposition 215 for the ballot, openly espoused the use of medicinal marijuana in the governor's race last year. Kubby finished fourth, receiving 1 percent of the vote. According to court documents filed by the multiagency North Tahoe Task Force, the investigation included interviews with Kubby associates, surveillance of the couple's home, checking their household trash and an analysis of their utility bills. But, as the anonymous letter from Marina del Rey piqued the interest of the drug task force, the Kubbys were tipped off an investigation had begun. ``They underestimated our political contacts, our influence and our friends in the medicinal marijuana movement,'' Michele Kubby said during an interview with the Auburn Journal at the couple's Olympic Valley home. Producing evidence of the Kubbys' marijuana garden was easy for members of the task force, which includes law-enforcement officials from Placer County, the state of Nevada and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators found stems, seeds, leafy marijuana residue, partially smoked marijuana cigarettes, 256 seedlings and packaging for cultivation supplies. ``My review of 215 is that (they had) more marijuana than necessitated by a medical condition,'' Placer County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Cattran said Tuesday. ``And there is some evidence that they furnished it to another individual -- observed during the surveillance.'' The Kubbys insist they are the perfect defendants to overcome police and prosecutor opposition to Proposition 215. They deny selling any of the marijuana they harvested, and point to their modest financial circumstance -- $4,800 in savings and a 10-year-old car -- as proof their only income is derived from Steve Kubby's online magazine, Alpine World. - --- MAP posted-by: derek rea