Plainsman1963

About Steve Kubby

Steve Kubby is the only 2008 presidential candidate who's played a key role in passing pro-freedom legislation, then gone to court -- and to jail -- defending that legislation. Since the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, twelve states have adopted "compassionate use" laws to protect patients whose ailments require them to use medical marijuana.

As a founder and director of the American Medical Marijuana Association, Steve Kubby has continued to fight for Americans' right to protect their health without facing political persecution. In that role, he has negotiated with federal regulators, including the Attorney General of the United States, on behalf of patient rights.

Like some other former, current or likely presidential candidates, Steve Kubby is a cancer patient. As a matter of fact, he is the longest-surviving known victim of malignant phenochromocytoma, a rare form of adrenal cancer with a 100% fatality rate within five years. Steve has lived with malignant phenochromocytoma for more than 30 years, and his condition remains under control ... thanks to medical marijuana.

Since his first cancer diagnosis in 1968, Steve has led a National Geographic expedition up Mt. Shasta, flown jet fighter aircraft at the US Navy's "Top Gun" school, skied most of the world's most prominent slopes, conducted exploratory scuba dives in Aruba, Bonaire and the British Virgin Islands, published the number one ski magazine in seven countries, and built a successful property management company, which he sold and which remains in business.

Steve is the author of The Politics of Consciousness (1995) and, with Ed Rosenthal, Why Marijuana Should Be Legal (1996).





Civil Liberties:

Repeal the Patriot Act
Repeal the Military Commissions Act
Enforce the Bill of Rights
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on civil liberties


Energy & Environment:

Require government and military fleets to go non-petroleum
End taxpayer subsidies to the petroleum and agriculture industries
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on energy and environment


Foreign Policy & Iraq:

Immediate, unconditional withdrawal from Iraq
Return to America's traditional non-interventionist foreign policy
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on foreign policy and Iraq

Guns:

No new "gun control" legislation
Repeal of all existing "gun control" legislation
Forbid and prosecute violations of gun rights by government
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on guns


Immigration:

Open immigration for all peaceful people
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on immigration


Taxes & Spending:

Veto any and all tax increases, new taxes, and unbalanced budgets -- period.
Work to cut spending, splitting resulting surpluses between tax cuts and debt service.
Work to eliminate the federal income tax.
Until the income tax is eliminated, seek annual across-the-board tax cuts through increases to the personal exemption.
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on the Taxes & Spending

The War on Drugs:

End it!
For more information, see Steve Kubby's full position paper on the War on Drugs

Plainsman1963

Fort Bragg, CA -- Citing overwhelming support from his own party's members and lackluster response to Libertarian presidential campaigns, Steve Kubby today endorsed US Representative Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination. Kubby, a candidate in his own party's presidential contest, made the endorsement in an interview from his home in Mendocino County, California.

"I am not, and have never been, a Republican," says Kubby, 60, best known for his work for cannabis legalization and on behalf of medical marijuana patients. "For me, the Libertarian Party has always been, and remains, our last best hope for achieving freedom through the American political process. And until recently my position was that the Libertarian Party needed to stick to its own guns, stake out its own territory. But sometimes a special situation comes along."

Recent polling shows Paul garnering the support of about 70% of LP members -- and the LP's front-runners, including Kubby, clustered together in the 2-3% range among those same members. That polling, Paul's much higher media profile, and fundraising reports showing that Paul has raised nearly 100 times as much money as any of his Libertarian competitors, convinced Kubby that this is just such a situation.

"I'm still running for president," says Kubby. "My campaign's first television commercial will debut shortly. I'm continuing to debate my opponents, attend public events as a candidate, and appear on talk radio to make my case. There are important things that need to be said, and I'm saying them. Dr. Paul and I disagree on some issues that I want to skyline, and I firmly believe that I'm the best candidate to represent the party next November. But when 70% of your own party believes so strongly in a candidate that they're willing to cross party lines to support him at least until he's out of the running, you owe it to them to back their play."

Kubby states that if his fellow freedom activists' long-shot bet pays off and Ron Paul becomes the Republican nominee, he will withdraw, ask the party to nominate "None of the Above" at its national convention, and work as a volunteer on Paul's general election campaign. "And I'm urging my fellow Libertarians to approach this in the same way," he says. "But at the same time, I'll continue preparing to give the LP the best presidential campaign I can give it if that doesn't work out."

"All Together Now" -- Kubby endorses Paul | Kubby for President

Plainsman1963

Medical Marijuana: ONDCP Claims Steve Kubby Has Changed His Mind, Kubby Says No Way!

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) used testimony submitted to Congress last week to misrepresent the position of Steve Kubby, a leading California medical marijuana advocate. Kubby acted this week to denounce the deception and clarify his continuing support for medical marijuana.

In written testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, Dr. David Murray, ONDCP's Chief Scientist called medical marijuana advocates "modern-day snake oil proponents," sneered at medicines that make patients "feel good," and claimed that laws okaying medical marijuana in a dozen states have led to "abuse, confusion, and crime." Then, to further buttress his argument against the therapeutic use of the herb, he added:

"Founding proponents of medical marijuana in the United States have reversed their key positions of support for medical marijuana. Rev. Scott Imler, Co-founder of Prop 215, has lamented the passage of California's medical marijuana law stating that, 'We created Prop. 215 so that patients would not have to deal with black market profiteers. But today it is all about the money. Most of the dispensaries operating in California are little more than dope dealers with store fronts.' Imler also said that medical marijuana has 'turned into a joke.' Steve Kubby, another Co-founder of medical marijuana in California stated in a letter to supporters on April 14th, 2006 that 'Marinol is an acceptable, if not ideal, substitute for whole cannabis in treating my otherwise fatal disease.' (Alternatives magazine, Fall, 2006 Issue 39, San Gabriel Valley Tribune 2/07, Message from Steve Kubby, Steve Kubby Released After Serving 62 Days in Jail, April 14th, 2006)"

Imler, a founder of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, which was raided and shut down by the DEA in 2001, has not taken exception to Murray's portrayal of his position -- after all, Murray accurately transcribed his words from the year-old magazine article. But Kubby, who was forced to resort to Marinol while jailed for two months in California, certainly took umbrage.

"My comments about Marinol were based upon my relief that I did not die in jail," he wrote in an email to supporters. "My comment was intended to acknowledge that I did get good blood pressure control with the Marinol and that finding certainly deserves further study. On the other hand, I lost 33 pounds in 62 days while on Marinol, so perhaps I should have used stronger language than 'less than ideal.'"

Kubby suffered from almost constant nausea while on Marinol, he wrote, adding that Murray took his sentence about Marinol out of context. The paragraph from which it was extracted reads as follows: "During that time I experienced excruciating pain, a vicious high blood-pressure crisis, passed blood in my urine and I lost 33 pounds. However, there was also good news. I learned that Marinol is an acceptable, if not ideal, substitute for whole cannabis in treating my otherwise fatal disease. Now I am a free man and I am profoundly grateful to be alive and to have friends and supporters such as you."

While conceding that Marinol can be effective for treatment of hypertension and would allow him to travel briefly without medical marijuana, it does not allow him to have an acceptable quality of life, Kubby said.

"Please help me squash this deceptive and dangerous misrepresentation of my true feeling on this matter by the ONDCP," Kubby wrote. "It just shows how desperate they are that they must mislead people in this way. And just so there is no question about this, let me be clear: Whole cannabis is not only the best medicine for me, it is the only medicine that has kept me alive during the 32 years that I have continued to live, in relatively good heath, despite a terminal diagnosis of malignant pheochromocytoma."

With Murray and ONDCP, it's sort of like that old country song title: "Who Are You Going to Believe -- Me or Your Lying Eyes?"

Medical Marijuana: ONDCP Claims Steve Kubby Has Changed His Mind, Kubby Says No Way! | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

Viper420

Isn't he dead yet?

Did he find Natalie Holloway?