Source: Sacramento Bee Copyright: 1999 Sacramento Bee Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html Author: Barbara Barte Osborn, Bee Correspondent MEDICINAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE, WIFE BUSTED OLYMPIC VALLEY -- Gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby, an outspoken supporter of marijuana legalization, and his wife were arrested Tuesday after narcotics agents found about 300 marijuana plants in their home. Kubby, 52, a Libertarian Party candidate who received more than 65,000 votes and finished fourth in his bid for governor in November, and his wife, Michele, 32, were arrested at their Olympic Valley home following a search by a narcotics task force. Investigators found four growing rooms in the residence from which they confiscated the plants with an estimated street value of about $420,000. The couple were being held at the Placer County Jail in Auburn, where they were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, marijuana cultivation and conspiracy. They remained jailed Wednesday night on bail of $100,000 each. Arraignment was set for todayat Tahoe Municipal Court in Tahoe City. Kubby, an author, online magazine publisher and outdoorsman, said during the gubernatorial race that he smoked marijuana daily for medicinal reasons. He played a key role in the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. In denying the marijuana was intended for sale, the Kubbys' attorney, Dale Wood of Truckee, said, "They have written recommendations from a California physician recommending they use it for their medical conditions." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake