Editorial
Who Will Murder Steve Kubby?
by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior Editor
The theory of the state says that the legitimate
purpose of government is to protect human rights. In
practice, governments kill people who are not a threat
to others. So in a democracy, why do the voters let
the government get away with murder?
by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior Editor
Steve Kubby is today’s prime example of a U.S. Citizen who may soon be murdered by the U.S. government. As reported, he needs marijuana to keep his cancer in remission, otherwise he will die. He suffers from pheochromocytoma, a rare disease of the adrenal glands above the kidneys. Chemotherapy does not alleviate this type of cancer.
In 2001, Kubby went to Canada to seek asylum, but the government of Canada denied him refugee status. Charged with violation of parole, Kubby was deported from Canada in January 26, 2006, forced to return to the USA, and is currently in jail at Placer County in Auburn, California. Kubby denies that he violated parole, and provides evidence that a judge allowed him to go to Canada.
He has been using Marinol to control his blood pressure, but the jail will not provide him with any more when his supply runs out. Medical marijuana (cannabis) would provide him with more complete medication, but it is illegal under federal law, even though legal for medical purposes in California. Unfortunately the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government may prohibit medical marijuana under the rubric of commerce among the states, even if the plant is grown within the state in which it is ingested.
According to some reports, it is not uncommon for prison officials to deny the inmates medicine which has been prescribed for them. Evidently, part of the punishment of prisoners is to let them get sick and die by withholding medicine, even though juries and judges did not prescribe this punishment. Evidently, this is not considered “cruel” by the state authorities.
Steve Kubby was the California Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor in 1998, two years after the passage of Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana in California law. As a medical marijuana user, Kubby actively campaigned for that proposition.
As reported by geolibertarian David Nolan, a founder of the Libertarian Party, “On January 19, 1999, two months after the campaign ended, twenty heavily armed officers from the Placer County sheriff's department raided the Kubbys' home. The invading officers found a number of marijuana plants under cultivation - in a room where copies of Proposition 215, which made this legal, were prominently posted.” Steve Kubby and his wife were sent to jail, and Steve was not allowed any medication.
If Kubby dies because he is denied medication by the prison authority, he will not be the first. Peter McWilliams, a libertarian writer and activist, was killed by prison authorities in 2000 by denying him medical marijuana to help take medicine for AIDS and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer.
How many others prisoners have died for lack of medication? Why is government committing this murder? Who is responsible? The prison authorities follow the policies set by the state and federal governments, so our elected officials are also responsible for these deaths.
Why are the U.S. government chiefs so adamantly opposed to medical marijuana? Most likely, because its legalization under federal law would open the door to legalizing marijuana in general. So why are the chiefs so opposed to legal marijuana? Is it the people or is it special interests who are the most influential?
Many U.S. persons are indeed opposed to legalizing marijuana, but this is because the propaganda of the government, especially in schools, makes them believe that legalization would lead to chaos and the downfall of civilization. It is often instructive to follow the money, to see the pecuniary beneficiary of policy. In this case, prime gainers are the tobacco and alcohol industries, as well as government chiefs.
Marijuana is a substitute for both tobacco and alcohol. Legalization would substantially decrease demand for both. Both the federal and state governments benefit from high taxes as well as lawsuit winnings from both industries. There could also be excise taxes on marijuana if it were legal, but such taxes would be more difficult to collect, since marijuana can be grown in back yards and inside houses.
I cannot prove that the alcohol and tobacco lobbies promote the prohibition of medical marijuana, but they profit from the prohibition, and they do lobby government officials, so it seems to me reasonable to conclude that financial interests are involved, at least indirectly and discreetly.
But why are the voters not outraged by this? Do the people not care? It seems to me that most folks are simply uninformed. Given the imminent threat of death for Steve Kubby, the more that the word gets out, the greater the chance that Steve and others like him will be provided with the medicine they need to avoid being murdered by the malfeasance of government officials.
Copyright 2006 by Fred E. Foldvary. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, which includes but is not limited to facsimile transmission, photocopying, recording, rekeying, or using any information storage or retrieval system, without giving full credit to Fred Foldvary and The Progress Report.
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Also see: Medical Fact: Marijuana is Safer Than Alcohol
Stop Spending Taxpayer Money to Harass Medical Patients in Chronic Pain
Medical Marijuana Case Shows Court At Its Worst |
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