Steve Kubby
Phone call from Placer County Jail
January 29, 2006

Around 5 p.m.

SK: Please take notes of everything I'm going to
tell you, and at seven you can get back to me.
[PM: Okay.] I am getting zero medical care. I'm
unable to even get Tylenol for pain and headaches.

PM: And you've requested it?

SK: I have requested it repeatedly. I'm told I
don't have a prescription for it.

PM: Have you requested anything other than Tylenol?

SK: Anything for pain, but most pain medications
are a problem for me, and Tylenol is all I need.

PM: Did you get the second shipment of the Marinol?

SK: I don't know. They keep that. They are
completely ignoring the bloody urine. I was told
on Friday at noon when I came in, that they would
test me for that, and they're not testing me. And
I'm really concerned that they don't want to test
me, that they don't want to document that I've
got blood in my urine as the resul! t of medical
incompetence and torture that I'm getting here.

PM: I hear you.

SK: The first follow-up since admission Friday
was today, about two hours ago they checked my
b-p. [Blood pressure.] No other care or exam. By
b-p on examination was one-sixty-six over
one-oh-eight, which is way high for me. Now, I
believe that the medical director thinks that I'm
a fraud, or ignorant, or something, because when
I told him that I cannot take Š Well, I don't
know if he even got the message. They said, you
got to Š They said, um Š I told them I can't take
regular meds, so they said, well then, you're
refusing treatment. And I said I'm refusing
conventional treatment, yes. So, you know I went
through that whole thing with the deputy
yesterday. After the confrontation with the
hostile deputy Š [PM: So you went through a
similar thing today?] No, but after this
confrontation with the hostile deputy, I'm afr! aid
to push this issue and I need help from friends
calling. And by the way, I'm getting the message
that they're getting a lot of calls. I'm under
the impression that I cannot expect any help from
the medical director due to my refusal to take
conventional medicines.

PM: Now, is this what Michele put in her note?
Beta blocker and alpha blocker, or something?

SK: These things are deadly for me. My Doctor
Conners in Canada understands, but people need to
understand that I do not have [high] blood
pressure, I have episodes of [high] blood
pressure. So, if you treat me when I'm running
one-sixty-six, if you treat that right now, as
soon as my tumor lets up, I'm going to bottom out
and turn into a vegetable. [PM: I see.] I can't
move. I have trouble speaking. I have, like, no
blood pressure. On the other hand, if I have an
attack and I'm only medicated for one hundred,
sixty-six over one-oh-eight,! and it goes to
two-fifty over two-twenty, which it does and
which I believe it went last Friday, if it gets
that high, it blows completely through the
protection of the blood-pressure medication, and
it fools my body into thinking that I'm protected
until that moment, and that's what's deadly.
That's where I get killed. That's where I get
hammered with terrible, terrible attacks, because
I've been through this for fucking years [anger
rising in voice], and this Š These people here
gave me an informational sheet on hypertension. I
know I know more than the top medical authorities
in California, and they're giving me an
information sheet. I'm really, really disturbed
by what is going on.

PM: So you're not in the infirmary? You're in a solitary cell?

SK: Yes. No, I'm not in any sort of an infirmary. I don't see anyone. [Sighs.]

PM: Have you received any more comments from staff that is memorable.

! SK: I've got a lot more to report. But there's
one sergeant here, Minden Sanders, who's
attempting to straighten things out. He told me a
lot of folks are calling and complaining. He got
me a pillow. He got me an extra pillow. [PM:
Good!] I sent him a written statement that I am
not Š This blood thing, they could fucking settle
it with one fucking test! They could have done it
Friday in two minutes. [PM: What kind of test are
you talking about?] Blood in urine; it's a simple
process. I don't know. I've never had blood in my
urine before. They told me they can test for this.

PM: Steve, I'm transcribing our first
conversation for Eric Bailey, Martin, and maybe
Fred Gardner, or Ann Harrison. I'll put something
together for like DPFCA based on all our
conversations.

SK: I told you yesterday that the Marinol
appeared to be helping. I honestly thought I
could make it. But everyone needs to know that I
was mistaken. Dr. Conners said it would not
control my blood pressure. He was correct. It
does provide partial effective relief for my
symptoms, but it is not very effective on the
adrenaline production.

PM: Is that because CBD is better for that?

SK: There's something in the whole plant that
keeps me at one-twenty over eighty, or better,
and it is outrageous that I'm being kept to the
point that I'm worried my kidneys are being
damaged. Now, the vomiting and nausea are gone,
and I ate my first meal today, but it just went
right through me as diarrhea. So I'm losing
weight, and I'm weak.

PM: I'll also copy it to Dick Cowan, the
transcript. I'm sorry to hear this, Steve. You
know, I've received a couple requests to say
hello to you. Certainly, Eva, Dale Schafer, and
Debbie Debord, and practically everybody I see.

SK: Let me get back to my report, OK? I urgently
need for Dr. Conners in Can! ada to contact the
medical director, and separately contact the head
of the jail here, and explain to them why no
conventional therapy is going to be able to keep
me alive. They need understand that they're going
to fucking kill me. I'm sorry, but you know,
three days and they can't even test or verify
that I have blood in my urine? What kind of
fucking care is that? I need Fred [Colburn] to
find a male barber. He knows Š His daughter is a
female barber. I need a haircut, man. I don't
want to go to the hearing without a haircut, if I
can get one. They say you can bring a male barber
in at any time and get a haircut. Will you look
into that?

PM: Yes. I can ask my barber here in town. Can it be anybody?

SK: Anybody at all. But not your barber; your
hair looks funny. Nah, I'm just kidding.

PM: [Laughs.] Well, Steve. Anything else you want
to tell me before I come tonight. Do you know if
I can hav! e a tape recorder with me, or a camera?

SK: I don't know.

PM: Well, I'll find out. Eva's going to try to
see you, too, but I'm not sure if you're allowed
two individuals per week, or just two visiting
periods per week.

SK: I don't know, either.

PM: I'll find out. [SK: Pat Š] Well look, hang in there, buddy.

SK: This is really getting serious. I really
thought yesterday that we had found an answer.
And please, don't misunderstand me, but Marinol
is tremendously helpful. It helps me with the
nausea. I'm not getting any more of the Š I was
vomiting so bad that my cellmate was getting
pissed at me. I requested a private cell, because
I don't want to keep these guys up puking all the
time. When I started the Marinol, the puking went
away, but now I got diarrhea, so it just goes
through me, boom. I'm weak, I'm shaky, and the
worst thing of all is I honestly think that
there's an effort here to n! ot document what is
happening, to not document that I am passing
blood, to not document my blood-pressure attacks.
Now, the big attacks, the worst one I had was
Friday, it knocked me down, I got disoriented,
but I have not had a super-high blood-pressure
attack since then. But one-sixty-six over
one-oh-eight is enough to make me feel pretty
darn sick all fucking day.

Oh, and the officer got me a copy of the Auburn
Journal story. I'll tell you, my blood really
boiled when I saw that yet another police officer
has decided to practice [medicine], and told the
Auburn Journal that I looked "fine." Well, I want
everyone to contact the Auburn Journal and tell
them I'm not fine, and doctors, police who make
those kind of Š Not just the police, but for the
Auburn Journal to put that in is fucking
bullshit, as sick as I am, to say that he looks
fine.

PM: They've got to talk to everybody on all
side! s of it, Steve. That's just part of the news.
But I want to know where they got that yahoo
medical expert. That was an embarrassment. [SK:
Who? The cop?] No, the UC Davis person who
pooh-poohed the Š [SK: Yes.] That was the worst
thing the Auburn Journal has done.

SK: They're going to kill me with that kind of
stuff. [PM: I hear you.] They're going to
convince people that it's not a big deal. It is a
big deal.

PM: You've got to take care of yourself to at
least Tuesday. How often do you take the Marinol?

SK: Three times a day.

PM: I see. Is that sufficient, do you think?

SK: It's all I'm going to get from that. There's
only one medicine that has ever worked for me. I
have thirty fucking years of documentation,
goddammit! [PM: Yeah.] Now, Dr. Conners is a very
high-ranking doctor. I'm hopeful that he can
persuade Š You know, he's not American, so they
might just blow him off. People need to
understand what is on the line. So, I'm going to
get off the phone, and let you contact people.
I'd like you to contact my wife and find out what
is going on. I don't want you to scare her, but I
want you to tell her to tell Ed [Pearson] that
I'm passing blood.

PM: So, let me get this straight again. They
have not tested for blood in the urine yet?

SK: No, they have not. [PM: I see, Steve.] The
only follow-up I've had in three days was a
blood-pressure check today.

PM: I got you. Well look, I will see you in a
couple hours and I'll make a few calls before
then.

SK: Just let everyone know that the calls work.
They're rattled here. They're just ignorant.
They're ignorant! They think it's a fraud or a
joke or something. They've got to understand that
they're going to fucking kill me! I've never had
blood in my kidneys before. I don't deserve to
have damaged kidneys now. I don't dese! rve that. I
want people to help me any way they can, because
at this point, I am really, really concerned. So,
I'm going to say good-bye.

PM: Take care. Try and stay calm, Steve. You can't let the stress get to you.

SK: When you see blood come out in your urine, it's hard to remain calm.

PM: I hear you. I hear you, Steve. [SK: All
right, thank you.] Hang in there, buddy. [SK:
I'll see you at seven.] Take care.

Steve Kubby
Phone call from Placer County Jail
January 28, 2006

A little after 1 p.m.

SK: I want to give you a statement [PM: Sure.],
and I want you to take notes. [PM: OK] [Reads
from prepared remarks.] OK. I entered the Placer
County Jail around noon yesterday. At that time
my blood pressure was one-seventy over
one-twenty, and I reported that I had passed
blood in my urine. I also reported that I had one
of the most severe blood-pressure attacks of my
life, with chest pains fo! r the first time ever
for me, and I became so disoriented that I
collapsed and I injured my back and head.

I was told by the nurse that the medical director
wants me on convention b-p [blood-pressure]
medications. I replied that I am under doctor's
orders to not use conventional b-p medication,
since I don't have a conventional b-p problem.
These meds would be worse for me and put me at
high risk, according to my doctors. So, they also
have denied repeated requests from me to talk to
my attorneys; this is the first time I've had
access to a phone, except yesterday. I had one
call, so I used that to call Michele in Canada.

PM: Steve, did you receive the Marinol?

SK: Yes, that has been a godsend for me. The
blood has stopped passing through my urine. My
kidneys, which were just throbbing with pain, are
starting to calm down, and it's not doing what
cannabis does for me, but it's keeping me alive. I am so grateful for that.

[Resumes reading remarks.] I am being held in
24-hour solitary lock-up until now; they let me
out for one hour, I get one hour out of every 24
hours.

PM: I tried to visit you. [SK: Yes? What did
they tell you?] They told me you're only allowed
two visitors a week, and for you, it's Sunday
night and Thursday night. I called Michele to let
her know that, because I will try to visit you
tomorrow night unless you want to reserve the
visit for somebody else.

SK: Yes, I'd like to arrange for me Š Well, I
get to see my attorney anytime, right?

PM: Right. They wouldn't let me in as a professional visitor.

SK: Yes, I'd like to see you tomorrow. Let me
continue giving my report. I assume you'll
disperse it to the media?

PM: Yeah. In fact, Eric Bailey asked me to give
him a call. But if you like, I'll put it up in
notes and pass it along to Michele and DPFCA.

! SK: Well, I'd like you to get to Eric first.
[PM: OK.] OK, so let me continue with my report.
Here's the spooky part, Pat. The medical director
has refused any further medical care for me, and
has forced me to sign a paper that if I die, it's
my fault for not taking conventional b-p
medication. When I protested that the statement
did not include the statement that I was under
doctors' orders from my doctors not to take these
medications, I was confronted by a deputy, who
told me, I want to get the quote right, told me,
"Sign the paper, and sign it as is." And, you
know, just got in my face and made it clear that
I was under physical duress to do it, that I was
forced to sign that paper.

No further b-p checks, or any physical
examination, has been since I reported chest
pains and blood in my urine.

PM: And when did you report that?

SK: Upon entering Placer County yesterday at noon.

PM: And no f! urther Š I mean didn't one-twenty, one-ten catch their attention?

SK: One seventy!

PM: Yeah. One-seventy over one-twenty. That didn't get their attention?

SK: They basically told me if I'm not going to
do it their way, they're not going to deal with
it. I've also been exposed to continual episodes
of cold, where officers will put me in a
situation, take my blanket from me. When I tell
them that I'm cold and I need the blanket, I mean
they're sitting there with a hat on, they got the
heavy uniform and everything, they just give us a
T-shirt! I'm a cancer patient! I haven't been
able to hold any food down since I got here,
since I was arrested. I'm being exposed to
episodes where I get so chilled that my teeth are
chattering and I'm shivering and it takes a
half-hour to warm up. I'm afraid I'm going to get
pneumonia or something if I continue to receive
abuse like that.

PM: Steve, I was actually at! the airport
Thursday night and spoke to Bill McPike briefly.
Did I hear him right that there were police cars
on the runway?

SK: Here's what happened. We landed, we pulled
into the tarmac, and they announced that Steve
Kubby, please come to the front. So I go to the
front and I get outside of the plane, and there
are federal agents everywhere. I don't know,
maybe six or eight federal agents. And they put
me up against the wall, and they do the handcuff
thing, and they were kind of rough with me, and
then they start telling me I've got all these
multiple warrants.

And I'm thinking, oh man, is this the federal
government getting bad-ass with me? Are they
going to come after me? Then, no sooner than they
- and they went over everything I have with a
fine-tooth comb trying to look for a flake of pot
or something - then they take me down to this cop
car and put me in there, and the guy just cranks !
the, the Asian guy with Border Patrol, just
cranks it down on my wrists until they're just,
I'm screaming with pain. I tell the guy, this is
really hurting me. And he basically just says
tough. So, get this, the officer that's
transporting me said, why don't you go ahead and
loosen the cuffs. He says, he'll be a security
risk, and he says, I'll take that chance.

So, they loosen up the cuffs, we take off, and
the guy says, so are you a senator or something?
I said why. He says, because of all the people
and press that were there. I said, no. I said I
was one of those people who helped passed a law
that police and prosecutors and judges don't
like. So, he tells me, well, it wasn't supposed
to go down this way. Quote - Someone has a big
hard-on to get you. Otherwise we would have let
you go to voluntarily surrender in Placer County.
- Unquote. [PM: Hmm.] Let's see what other
information I have for you Š

PM: What was the rest of that? Someone has a
hard-on to arrest you? It wasn't supposed to go
down? What did you say?

SK: "Otherwise, we would have let you go and
voluntarily surrender in Placer County."

PM: And who told you that? The guy transporting you?

SK: Yeah, and he said he would never admit to it if I told.

PM: OK

SK: So, what else do I have to report Š [Apparently scanning a list.]

PM: So, was there [sic] police cars on the
runway or not? Did I misunderstand? [SK: Yes.]
Yes? [SK: Yes.] They pulled up to the Š [SK: the
plane Š] yeah, but at the gate before they
disembark?

SK: They got on and off out of everyone's view.

PM: So, did you exit through the normal gate, or did they, oh OK.

SK: I exited through the plane, and right
outside the plane were these guys, between the
plane and the gate.

PM: In the maneuverable hallway, or whatever.

SK: Yes.
PM: How was your treatment at the border, getting on the plane?

SK: Superb.

PM: So, Canadian officials were Š

SK: Very polite. They went overboard to be
polite and understanding and helpful.

PM: But you're saying you have not received that
kind of treatment on the U.S. side of the border?

SK: I thought they were pretty rough with me.
They were treating me like I was some kind of Š

PM: You said they read all these charges, but
you're not under arrest for those charges, are
you?

SK: They just said I was under arrest for
multiple warrants. I thought it was federal at
the time; I was crapping in my pants. I took it
pretty cool, actually.

PM: Bill [McPike] said you were in a pretty good
mood, that you seemed to look forward to getting
it resolved. Is that a fair description? [SK: Who
said that?] Bill McPike.

SK: Yes. Yes. I want everyone to understand three
things. First of! all, I never fled. I had the
permission of the court to leave. Two, I opted
not to return when it was clear to me that
illegal and damaging things were being done
behind the scenes to harm to me and to come after
me. And three, I came down to voluntarily
surrender myself.

PM: Well, did you have any choice?

SK: Yes, I had the choice to run, I had a choice
to duck out in another country, but I came right
to Placer County to face the music, and for them
to face the music.

PM: So, you could have engineered an escape from the Canadian airport?

SK: Oh, I had all kinds of offers to go to
Amsterdam, Europe, Australia, New Zealand.

PM: How about St. Vincent?

SK: Hey, if I'd had that, I might have taken it.
[Pause.] Oh god, this Marinol has been so much a
godsend for me.

PM: Dr. Tod told me yesterday that it was the
first time he'd ever prescribed or recommended,
prescribed I guess, in t! hese kinds of
circumstances. It has to be enough to give you an
initial, uh, I forget the term, but Š

SK: You know, I was pissing blood until I got on the Marinol.

PM: Wow. [Pause.] So, did you sign that paper or not?

SK: You bet I signed it. They made it pretty
clear I was in for a bad time if I didn't.

PM: But even with that cooperation, they have
not monitored your health closely?

SK: I have only received one blood-pressure
check and that was upon entry, at one-seventy
over one-twenty.

PM: And now it's more than 24 hours later.

SK: Yes, that's correct.

PM: Steve, you said you've been kept in solitary
since then. Is it at least an open-air cell?

SK: Yeah, it's part of a facility where each guy
has one cell, and there's probably a dozen other
guys locked down with me. Each of us gets out,
now that I've been here a while, I get out one
hour a day. I get out one hour a day, ! right now,
and I'm locked down the rest of the time.

PM: When did you receive the Marinol, and has
that been given to you regularly?

SK: Yes, I received the Marinol upon entering
Placer County. And if you look at my mugshot,
you'll see that within an hour I was already able
to muster a smile for my mugshot. [PM: Good, so
you had the Marinol before you took the mugshot?]
Yes, and I remembered what you said, that they'd
probably print it, so I smiled.

PM: You know. Good point. Even Tom Delay learned
that one. [Laughs.] [SK: Yeah.] So, have you had
any other comments either by inmates or
law-enforcement officials that stand out, Placer
County officials?

SK: [To someone else:] Yes, ma'am. I have to go.

PM: OK. Say, thanks Steve for giving me a call.

SK: OK. I gotta go. They want me to go.

PM: I'll see you tomorrow.

SK: Bye-bye.