An Interview with Steve Kubby
Steve Kubby -- No, I was too busy running an international ski magazine. Back then, I was a successful businessman, not an activist, who traveled via a private aircraft, as an official guest of governments.
SK -- It was Robert Randall, the first federally recognized medical marijuana patient, who paved the way for the rest of us. In fa
LU -- Having gone to a few sites that talk about some of the tests on medical marijuana that have been done, and the positive results they've had, I can't help but wonder if the AMA is behind some of the aggressive tactics being used against anyone connected with medical marijuana. After all, what possible benefit can there be in prosecuting sick people or those who help them unless there is a monetary benefit to be had on a large scale? If a drug could be available from a natural source and was actually quite inexpensive to produce it would cut into the profits of the drug companies significantly enough to make quashing the use and study of that natural substance, no matter the cost, money well spent. That would also explain why the feds supply such mediocre marijuana for the tests that do get done. If the herb the testing is done with is too weak to have any therapeutic effect, it would be easy to disprove any real benefit from marijuana on a medical basis. Any comment? What are your thoughts about the testing that is done or the lack of it?
SK -- First I'll comment on the conspiracy theory. Of course, there is a conspiracy to keep cannabis out of commercial viability, on all levels. Cannabis and hemp would revolutionize medicine, fuel, fiber, plastics, building material, clothes, food, and paper; the list is endless. Not only the pharmaceutical companies, but the petrochemical companies, and wood product companies are desperately opposed to a hemp/cannabis-based economy because then the little guy might actually be able to get ahead. In addition, all of these companies have a great relationship with the U.S. federal government, all the way back to 1937 when cannabis prohibition first began. So, yes, in answer to your musings about medical marijuana patients getting especially targeted, you are correct. They are.
SK -- I think age has much more to do with it. The average age of medical marijuana patients in the clubs is 50. Most baby-boomers are 50 now. Something happens to a person when they hit 50. Plus, most of the baby-boomers smoked pot. They are quite comfortable with the consequences of smoking pot and know that the government is out of control on this issue.
LU -- That makes perfect sense. And, of course, the older you get, the more likely you are to need medicating for a variety of age-related diseases. With so many people unable to afford medical insurance and pharmaceutical companies over the top on what they charge Americans compared with other countries, even Canada, it makes a wide-spectrum medication that can be self-produced very attractive.
SK -- My old college roommate, Cheech Marin, came by and we got high. I noticed the next day that my symptoms were strangely improved. Although I was skeptical, my daily log of blood pressure readings proved that cannabis was helping me, so I continued its use until I had weaned myself off of the pharmaceuticals.
LU -- How did your doctor feel about this?
SK -- Every doctor I mentioned this to either quickly changed the subject or would find ways to drop me, such as refusing to renew any of my pain medications. I could have an unlimited supply of any narcotics I wanted, until I started requesting advice regarding cannabis. Suddenly I was a drug addict in the eyes of my own physicians.
LU -- That bites! And I assume you've seen more than your share of doctors. Overall, what is your experience regarding their receptiveness to marijuana as a medical palliative and possible cure for some conditions?
SK -- I believe most of them trust that marijuana is good medicine, they just don't want to be the gatekeepers controlling who gets it and how much. For them, marijuana has not been properly tested through the system so they are unaware of the potential harm that cannabis could cause. They don't want to be sued, basically.
SK -- Before my illness, I was completely unknown to the cannabis community. However, my book, The Politics of Consciousness, published in 1995, was a big hit with Timothy Leary and Terence McKenna and that led to my being introduced to people like Jack Herrer, Chris Conrad, Ed Rosenthal and Dennis Peron. That was when I started my involvement with medical marijuana.
LU -- For the benefit of our readers who aren't familiar with your background, what's the story with the bust in California that subsequently forced you to emigrate to Canada?
SK -- Our bust in California started with an anonymous letter being mailed to the Sheriff's department of Tahoe from LA; it is now believed by a number of people that law enforcement sent this letter. I was investigated while running for Governor in 1998, culminating in my arrest in 1999 for cultivation and sales. My wife and I were charged with 19 counts between the two of us. We spent $250,000, 2½ years, went through ten judges, three juries, and two sets of attorneys before we got a fair hearing. We won on the marijuana charges, but I was convicted of possessing ½ gram of a mushroom stem and four cactus buttons. We left California because the sentence imposed upon me would have put my life in danger over vegetable matter.
LU -- Finally you are able to medicate without fear of being arrested in Canada, but that hasn't been any easy road either. Would you give us a brief run through of the way events unfolded in B.C.?
SK -- In March of 2001, the Canadian Broadcasting Co., as well as many of the local papers, did an expose on the “pot refugees.” Local RCMP officers did not like the reputation their community was beginning to have because of the attention, so they turned in the refugees, myself included, to Canadian Immigration. On April 16th, we were arrested. In the process of arresting me for immigration, the RCMP stumbled onto my medical grow and promptly charged me for cultivation and sales. Since that time I have received an exemption from the Canadian government to grow my own medicine legally, had the criminal charges dropped, and have had my equipment and pot returned to me. Immigration is still working itself out.
LU -- You have won some measure of security for yourself in Canada, and no longer need fear the RCMP breathing down your neck ready to confiscate your plants, but do you see yourself as something of an anomaly or are other marijuana patients up north being given that same level of acceptance?
SK -- Because our case is educating many Canadians, medical marijuana is more accepted up here than ever before. Soon, even recreational users will have the freedom to toke up with Canada looking at decriminalization and the courts dismissing simple possession cases.
LU -- That is a much saner approach for the authorities to use. The U.S. would do well to borrow a page here from Canada's rule book. How would you contrast Canada's attitude toward both recreational users and medical users as opposed to that of the United States?
SK -- In Canada, the government actually respects that cannabis is a medicine. The federal government of the U.S. cannot accept cannabis for any reason or the complete failure of the War on Drugs will be self-evident and the game is over. Until cannabis is recognized as a medicine by the federal government the U.S., medical marijuana users will suffer.
LU -- Of course, then we get into situations with juries like the Ed Rosenthal case where the jurors felt misled by the judicial system and would not have convicted had they been allowed to hear the complete defense. More than that, they are speaking out against it. Perhaps something was learned from Peter McWilliams' death after all. We are now seeing at least the Ed Rosenthal jury taking a stand.
SK -- Of course, the U.S. is applying pressure, that is why even decriminalization hasn't happened up here yet. Already though, Canada is applying pressure back on the U.S. about illegal guns being produced and brought into Canada. The U.S. is losing its moral high ground very rapidly. A border closure at this point would not be good for business and business rules everything. War with Iraq would probably shut the borders down quicker.
SK -- Absolutely. The raid on Valerie Corral was over the top and really made many people stop and think. Not many raids have happened since the Corral's raid.
LU -- Do you see the state of sick individuals who use medical marijuana and those that help them in California and other states where it is legal improving at all? Case in point, Ed Rosenthal?
SK -- I think Ed's case is a wonderful example of how the court of public opinion is changing things faster than we can imagine. After the kind of guilty verdict Ed received, he should have been instantly remanded to jail, but the judge refused that order by the prosecution. Public opinion is really changing things. The only way for this war to end is for the people to take back their rights and overgrow the government. Ed is a fighter and I have no doubt that he will prevail.
LU -- I think we can safely assume a continued assault on anyone connected to the legalization issue will continue. Will we see more people setting up spaces “underground” to grow marijuana for their own personal use, whether to medicate or for recreation?
SK -- Absolutely. The genie is out of the bottle. People want their medicine and the polls show that the public wants them to have it.
LU -- Are the methods for growing marijuana complicated or difficult, outside of the need to hide one's crop, or has technology only made it seem so compared to the past?
SK -- I always say, “Marijuana is easy to grow, if you do everything perfectly.” Even something as simple as the wrong kind of soil can kill your plants.
LU -- Well, what about your new CD set -- what makes it different than all the other growing information out there?
SK -- We go to the source for information. The experts that we interviewed have been in the cannabis business for 20 years or more. We also interviewed a variety of experts; most grow information features one person telling you what they know.
LU -- Well, that really covers the whole marijuana experience very completely..
SK -- In addition, the format is easy to digest. A book is difficult to visualize and a video is too much information in one long streaming clip to comprehend. With a short two to five minute video segment on each subject, a person can refer to the CD as they are setting up their grow or while they are encountering problems in the garden.
LU -- Sounds good!
SK -- We've already had a letter from a patient who said that the information on our CD saved their crop of medical marijuana from a nutrient deficiency death.
LU -- Your CD sounds like something that anyone with grow problems might find to be extremely useful.
SK -- Absolutely. I hope you've read the New York Times editorial blasting the Federal government for wasting time and resources harassing doctors and individuals like Ed? Once the media comes to our side, it is all over. The New York Times has given other media outlets the permission needed to start attacking the feds over their policy. So long as we can tell the whole truth of our stories, we will be victorious. It is when the truth is hidden and lied about that bad decisions are made.
LU -- Do you think there has been a lack of coverage on this issue by mainstream media in general, making it into a non-issue?
SK -- Of course, there has been an appalling lack of coverage and even misinformation from the mainstream media. The way the media reported the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling from the Oakland CBC case directly paved the way for the federal officials to come in and raid other clubs.
SK -- The bloated carcass of the Industrial Age is crashing down around us, just as the Information Age is blossoming. Our best and brightest are unplugging from Babylon and escaping into digital sovereignty. The tax base is shrinking as prosperity shifts to cyberspace, to the bewilderment and anger of “brick and mortar” bureaucrats. Cannabis will replace booze and a long list of toxic pharmaceuticals, as citizens learn to grow their own medicine. The new battle cry will be, “Overgrow the government!” And why not? We're ready for a real revolution in this country and the right to grow your own seems like a good place to begin. Our fight is no more about marijuana than the Boston Tea Party was about tea. It's about freedom and a broken criminal justice system that refuses to obey the Constitution or the People.
LU -- ...and there you have it!
