A Steve Kubby UpDate

I know that the folks who are out there following the case of Steve Kubby may have seen some of this info, but some of you may not have. Here are some new updates one Steve and his current condition.

Steve is in the Placer County Jail and is suffering symptoms of his cancer, since the authorities will not allow him access to his medical marijuana.

Brad Spangler posts an unconfirmed report, via Hammer of Truth that the "authorities" have consented to allow Mr. Kubby access to Marinol, an "inferior" synthetic form of THC. There are also links to information concerning vigils and financial assistance.

Background info from the Globe and Mail, for those needing background.

For continual coverage in the blogosphere please take a moment to check out Technorati. Simply search for "Steve Kubby". You can bring up a mini window tracker that updates every 60 seconds.

I, and many, many others will be keeping track of Mr Kubby's story as it unfolds.

It would be nice if the "authories" would allow Mr. Kubby to use a medicine which is perfectly legal in the Republic of California. Given the current state of affairs in that state and the rest of the nation, tho I have little hope of that.

Please take a moment or two and contact the "authorities" in Placer County and express your disproval of Mr. Kubby's treatment.

Contact:
Bradford R. Fenocchio
Placer County District Attorney
(530) 889-7000
(530) 889-7129 fax
bfenocch@placer.ca.gov

Steve Kubby may be contacted with letters at the following address. Commisary funds, (postal money orders only with no letters) may also be tendered at the following address.

Steve Kubby BK 49899
c/o Placer Co Jail
2775 Richardson Drive
Auburn, CA 95603

Hopefully Mr. Kubby will survive this attempt at politicide.

Bad Medicine?

When I initially began this post a few days ago, I knew I was going to have to delay posting it. It was too emotionally straining to try and write it. Not because I know Mr. Steve Kubby, I do not.With a few days between then and now it is easier, but not a lot. As I write this Steven Kubby sits in a California jail awaiting extradition to Placer County, California, a place he fled some years ago in order to save his life after the State had decided that he should go to jail for refusing to give in to a rare form of adrenal cancer.

Earlier this month the Authorities in Canada, where Mr.Kubby had mistakenly fled to save his life decided that they would placate their friends in the lower 48 and send him back to be imprisoned and, possibly die. That would certainly save the State a great deal of trouble. They could remove Mr. Kubby by simply doing nothing, while he is in their custody. It is a certainty that they will not allow him access to his medical marijuana, a substance which has managed to keep him alive for many years when "traditional" medicine would have written him off and allowed him to expire.

I sincerely hope that Mr. Kubby does not become another martyr in the War Against People, as did Peter McWilliams. I first learned of Peter McWilliams by reading his book, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country".

In researching this piece I ran across some interesting facts about medical marijuana, facts about which I had been ignorant and which, had I known them could have possibly saved my own mothers life and made her last days vastly more comfortable. You see, my mother suffered from diabetic myopathy. That's a diabetes induced nerve degeneration that causes extreme pain, loss of movement and often-times loss of limbs. Her pain was excruciating, to say the least. Sure, she wasn't the best at controlling her diabetic condition, but most people who suffer from diabetic myopathy aren't good at controlling it. Why? Because ANY small pleasure that brings a momentary relief is welcomed by pain sufferers.

Research into the use of medical marijuana in the treatment of diabetic myopathy, (something the government would swear has never been done, despite the reality) has shown that it alleviates the pain as well as opiates and even retards the degeration of nerve tissue. That, and its cost compared to prescription drugs alone should warrant patients being told of the benefits of medical marijuana.

We have seen all the research that tells us that medical marijuana works. The majority of people in this country, according to poll after poll, are firmly in favour of making medical marijuana available to patients for a variety of ailments. The people in almost 1/5th of this nations states have said, via referenda that it is the law of the land. Only one entity and it's enforcers stands in the way. The Federal government. They continue to persecute citizens who commit no crime. They coerce law enforcement and courts to bend to their will, using the carrot of cash and power. All to our detriment. This must stop. Perhaps, Mr. Kubby's case will be the straw that breaks the back of the rabid camel, but I doubt it.

I cannot help but think that if my mother had been able to overcome decades of anti-marijuana propaganda, had had access to marijuana and would have used it conscientiously she might still be with us today. Instead, every September 11th I will be thinking of losing her and not anyone else.

Mr. Kubby, my thoughts are with and your family. I can only hope that the State manages to find its compassion and sensibilities in your case and I hope the good citizens of California have the fortitude to do the right thing and see to your freedom should the Authorities refuse to set you free. In the end, it is up to "We The People".



UPDATE: Reports from independent sources have already started coming in that Steve Kubby is being denied his medication and is experiencing symptoms of his cancer. Whether or not the "authorities" will allow him to have access to his normal treatments or even traditional medicine is unknown.
From a release by the California NORML folks:

“I’m really sick already,” Kubby said from jail two hours afterwards, “I’m gonna start puking my brains out.” He says his guards laughed at him when he requested Marinol. Kubby says he hasn’t had marijuana for half a day and has begun to experience all of the symptoms of his life-threatening disease - nausea, headaches, swollen kidneys. He has chills and has not been able to get a blanket from the guards.”They don’t understand that they’re dealing with someone with cancer,” he says.

More to come...

Sam Had It Right

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you and may posterity forget that ye were once our countrymen."-- Samuel Adams


This has long been my favourite quote from any early American patriot and I wish more people could have it said to them. The passage via sneak attack of the REAL ID Act was an attack on the individual sovereignty and the rights of the individual states, as well. And now we have an early implementer in the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the state of Indiana.

Ostensibly, the BMV is implementing early to inconvenience illegal aliens, without regards to the inconvenience and invasion of the privacy of the people of Indiana. Information gathered by the BMV will be sent to and shared with the Department of Homeland Security. The Indiana BMV has, whether they will admit or not implemented a National ID in the guise of a state drivers license.

Bureau of Motor Vehicles officials say they implemented state rules to comply with the federal Real ID Act passed last year by Congress, which will take effect in 2008. The law demands that states increase the documentation they require for such things as driver's licenses to improve homeland security.
Citizens from those states that don't meet standards could find their licenses aren't accepted as proof of identification to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.

The heart of the problem seems to involve the bureau's revised policy on Social Security cards. A valid Social Security card is mandatory to receive a driver's license.

From The Indianapolis Star.

And there we have it. The odds of the Governor of Indiana, the former Bush administration OMB Director protesting the REAL ID Act or it's implementation is virtually non-existent. In Indiana this travesty will go through and become the law of the land. Despite the costs to the citizens of Indiana, Mitch Daniels and the Federal government will see to it that Indiana becomes a REAL ID beacon.

And here I take my stand and tell the supporters of this act, "If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you and may posterity forget that ye were once our countrymen."
No more. I refuse to play this particular political game. I will not be made a number so that you and yours may sleep in your beds and pretend to a false sense of security. I, and many others were against this Act from the onset and spoke against it. With this new action, tho you have created something. You have created another rebel. A Real ID Rebel. Welcome to the rebellion.

I'm Tired Of New Orleans

Sick and tired of it, as a matter of fact. Let's forget about them and concentrate on those who were truly victims of devastation. The people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
New Orleans, a favourite city of mine with years of memories for me and my family, did not get hurt as badly as the Gulf Coast to the east. The Crescent city suffered some damage, some flooding and damage due to incompetency and humans. The Mississippi Gulf Coast, in comparison lost everything. The devastation was, and still is total for miles in from one side of the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the other. But, to hear the media tell it the only place really damaged was New Orleans.

Flooding is one thing. Complete destruction is another.


Scenes like this are all too common along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Even the worst pictures from New Orleans are no match for the levels of destruction that we have seen wreaked upon the coastal communities. Large sections of multiple cities have been scoured from the face of the Earth.

My family and I took our recent vacation to the Mississippi Gulf Coast this past summer, as we often do. We visited places from my childhood, went to the beaches and restaurants and took our children to see the places I grew up in. All of the places we went to are gone now. Not damaged, not flooded, not blown over. Gone. The White Cap Restaurant at the Gulfport Marina, gone.


Perhaps the owners of the White Cap will rebuild. Perhaps Marineland will rebuild. Maybe Ship Island Excursions will rebuild. But, as long as the press keeps America's eyes on New Orleans the Gulf Coast will be very slow to rebuild.

As someone who really wishes the government to stay out of the mess, as much as possible I would much rather see private companies thinking about the Gulf Coast than New Orleans. Just as many minority families in Mississippi have been impacted by the devastation wrought on the coast maybe more, but the cameras were there incidentally while on their way to New Orleans.

I'm tired of a nightly update on New Orleans. I want nightly updates on the people who truly suffered the greater loss.