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12.09.2003


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I DO NOT TRUST POLICE!
Anyone who will cage a human for using a plant
IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED!
They fail the litmus test.
-- anonymous

"The government's drug-reform policy is driven by a fundamentalist Christian
sense of morality that sees any of these illegal substances used as evil!"
-- John Sperling, Arizona billionaire to Time magazine

"There is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress."
-- Mark Twain

"Do you think the Russians allow dope? Hell no. Not if they can catch it, they send them up.
You see, homosexuality, dope, immorality in general: These are the enemies of strong societies.
That's why the Communists and the left-wingers are pushing it. They're trying to destroy us."
-- President Richard Nixon, May 26, 1971

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos
and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana
causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."
-- Harry Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics, testifying to Congress on why marijuana should
be made illegal, 1937. (Marijuana Tax Act, signed on Aug. 2, 1937; effective Oct. 1, 1937)

"It is an unacceptable state of affairs when people suffering
from a serious disease feel driven to break the law."
-- Lorna Layward (MS Society - U.K.)

"It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between
those sufferers and the benefits of this substance"
-- Judge Francis Young, the DEA's Chief Administrative Judge

"I smoke two joints in the morning, I smoke two joints at night
I smoke two joints in the afternoon, it makes me feel alright"
-- The Toyes, "Two Joints"
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"What became of Common Sense or better yet, Sensitivity?"
Steve Kubby and Don Nord are teaching us about the human condition in respect
to the dynamics of health. When governments and rules get in the way of our own
well being and complicate the issue into a posture that is scripted from the govern-
ments own false tales and laws about herbal plants. Medical Marijuana is centuries
old in use and has brought today's science to the reality of it as an adjunct in many
healing uses versus the use of pharmaceuticals. Wondrous leaps of applied uses
keep creeping to the fore front of modern science. One prime example is the exist-
ence of Cannabinoid Receptors in the human brain and throughout the body.
Hmm, why would they exist, if that which activates them is banned? So many thera-
pies are reaching into the world of "witches", pagan herbal lore and momma's kitchen
cures. Many of these held basis for quite some time till the influence and banning by
the churches and governments around the planet. A few courageous doctors are aid-
ing their patients by recommending them in spite of the government and pharmaceuticals
corporations that control their interest. The articles below will note the plight of Steve
Kubby and his family requesting Canadian sanctuary in order to maintain his precarious
health condition. The government rejected his initial request for asylum, yesterday. Steve
was one of the candidates who ran for governor of California in 1996. He was arrested
for growing medicine for his personal health needs. The other gentleman hails from Colorado
and was arrested for growing Medical Marijuana as well for his personal health issues.
These two illustrate the harm not just to themselves and those in the similar situations,
but also point out the false premises of government's fallacious intolerant policies towards
a plant and medically needy patients. It is time for this government to stop, realize the
benefits and utility of Medical Marijuana, and get off of the need to control our lives
(when in all reality, they do little to nothing to aid us) plus release the huge volumes of
humans incarcerated in the U.S. just because of a plant!
The time is now for this government to offer leadership not hardship and change their
need to control to Compassion. There is no one who is immune to disease or illness
nor is there the need for pharmaceutical means, when plants such as Medical Marijuana
to help us. One wonders if any of these Christians than are involved in government ever
read Genesis or any of the numerous other passages that bring light to this issue!
"And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after its kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind:
and God saw that it was good."
-- Genesis 1:12
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which
is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
-- Genesis 1:29

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  • Steve Kubby's Case Online

  • The Determination is online

  • from: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08235307.htm
    U.S. "reefer refugee" loses asylum claim in Canada
    By Allan Dowd
    08 December 2003

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec 8 (Reuters) - A Canadian immigration panel
    refused political asylum on Monday to a marijuana advocate who says he fled the
    United States to escape persecution in the "War on Drugs."
    Steve Kubby, an unsuccessful California gubernatorial candidate, had argued he
    was a political target of the police because of his outspoken views in favor of medical
    marijuana and against U.S. anti-drug laws.
    "What Mr Kubby alleges does not amount to persecution," Immigration and Refugee
    Board member Paulah Dauns wrote in dismissing Kubby's application -- along with
    those of his wife and two young children.
    Kubby, 56, is among a handful of "reefer refugees" who have moved to Canada in
    recent years to escape U.S. drug laws -- a movement they liken to the draft dodgers
    who fled the United States in opposition to the Vietnam War.
    Canada allows the medical use of marijuana and has even supplied government-
    grown pot for people with illnesses such as AIDS, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
    Kubby began smoking pot in the 1980s to offset the effects of cancer and was
    active in the campaign that led to California's Proposition 215 in 1996, making
    marijuana legal for treating some sick people.
    He was the Libertarian Party's gubernatorial candidate in California in 1998.
    Kubby was convicted on drug procession charges in Placer County, California,
    in 2001, but moved to Canada before serving his sentence of house arrest. He
    now lives in Sechelt, British Columbia, north of Vancouver.
    Kubby argued in his refugee hearing that his need for marijuana was the same as
    a diabetic who requires insulin to stay alive.
    He claimed his life would be threatened if he was returned to the United States
    and denied the drug.
    Dauns ruled it appeared pot was helping Kubby cope with his cancer symptoms,
    but it was unclear if it was actually keeping him alive. She noted that he would
    have access to the drug under the California law he helped pass.
    "He argues that a medical marijuana patient should be protected from persecution.
    What he has demonstrated is that in fact, they are," Dauns wrote in her nearly
    60-page decision.
    Dauns noted that the U.S. federal government has opposed state medical marijuana
    laws, but Kubby had failed to show the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had any
    special interest in prosecuting him.
    Marijuana is a touchy issue in U.S.-Canada relations, with White House drug czar
    John Walters warning that Ottawa's plan to decriminalize procession of small amounts
    of pot could lead to tighter security on the border.
    Marijuana growing is estimated by police and advocates to to be worth more than
    C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) annually in British Columbia, with most of the potent "B.C.
    Bud" eventually sold in the United States.


    CBC'S THE NATIONAL - THE MOST WATCHED NEWS PROGRAM IN CANADA

  • CBC's Story plus RealVideo or Quicktime

  • Pot advocate denied refugee status in Canada
    Written by CBC News Online staff
    09 Dec 2003

    VANCOUVER - A U.S. medical marijuana advocate who sought refugee status in
    Canada had his claim rejected Monday. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board
    ruled that Steve Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted or tortured,
    or that there was any risk to his life if he returned to his home state of California.
    Kubby had said the 120-day jail term he was ordered to serve in California on minor
    drug charges would be a death sentence.
    He claimed that he would die from complications from adrenal cancer if he did not
    smoke pot every hour.
    Kubby fled to British Columbia in 2001 to avoid the jail sentence. He then filed a
    refugee claim to avoid being deported.
    The board noted that California does permit the medical use of marijuana in some
    cases.
    The board also ruled against the refugee claims of Kubby's wife, Michele, and their
    two daughters.


  • KUBBY DECISION ONLINE

  • More Links - KUBBY REFUGEE DECISION - stories & videos:
    Los Angeles Times, CA
  • POT USER'S REFUGEE BID IS REJECTED

  • Santa Rosa Press Democrat, CA
  • CANADA REJECTS MEDICAL POT ASYLUM

  • RICHARD COWAN ANALYSIS ON POT TV ABOUT DECISION
  • Richard Cowan @ Pot TV

  • CBC News, Canada
  • POT ADVOCATE DENIED REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA

  • The Globe and Mail, Canada
  • CANADA NO POT HAVEN, REFUGEE RULING SHOWS

  • Australian News
  • AUSTRALIAN EVENING NEWS

  • ***********************************************************************
    A Special Letter from Michele Kubby:

    Dear friends,

    I'm very concerned that the continual harassment by government officials is
    killing my husband. This entire Refugee process has put Steve's health into
    a terrifying tailspin.

    Yesterday, I was shocked to see Steve so sick that he could barely walk.
    When he did walk, he had great difficulty with his balance. He is suffering
    from extremely elevated high blood pressures. He is nauseous, has diarrhea,
    he's weak, shaky, has difficulty urinating from kidney damage and soaking
    his sheets from night sweats.

    All of this is the direct result of the Refugee Protection Board Ajudicator,
    Pauhla Dauns' dishonest, shameful and cowardly decision. She denies that
    returning Steve to the States will cause him harm, but her very decision has
    put his life at risk.

    It wasn't easy for Dr. Connors to find the time or the courage to testify on
    Steve's behalf, but he did it because he clearly feels, as we all do, that
    Steve's life is at risk. Dr. Connors explained in very graphic frightening
    details how my husband is a walking time bomb.

    For the first time in my marriage with Steve I am truly frightened about his
    welfare. He's still struggling from the radiation he subjected himself to
    to prove that there are no other therapies but cannabis. Steve has never
    hurt a fly. It's always the government that accuses him of criminal
    behavior. This woman, Pauhla Dauns is a criminal for putting my husband's
    life in danger.

    Steve saw by the third day of our hearings, in March, that Pauhla Dauns and
    the Refugee Protection Officer were dyed in the wool prohibitionists and
    could never provide a fair hearing. This is in the transcripts. However,
    when Steve officially objected and asked for a new hearing with the full
    Refugee Board, as is his right, Pauhla Dauns assured him that she would look
    solely at the facts. Now with this decision, we know that Ms. Dauns
    deliberately excluded key evidence and testimony or completely
    misrepresented testimony by Dr. Connors and Judge James Gray.

    This is murder, happening before our eyes, and I need your help now. I know
    that with cannabis and some peace, Steve can recover, but not with this
    continual and criminal harassment by government officials.

    I beg you, please write a letter today to any of the major newspapers that
    have published articles about this decision and help us expose this murder
    in progress. Please, I don't want my husband to become another Peter
    McWilliams, but that is exactly what is going to happen if we don't act
    together as a community to help one of our own.

    Gratefully,

    Michele Kubby


    Papers that have covered this story and need letters to the editor:

    * Canada no pot haven, refugee ruling shows
    The Globe and Mail, Canada - 9 Dec 2003

    * Medical marijuana activist loses bid for refugee status
    Vancouver Sun - Dec 09 1:15 PM

    * Pot User's Refugee Bid Is Rejected
    Los Angeles Times - 9 Dec 2003

    *US refugee who smokes pot to fight rare cancer loses bid to stay ...
    Winnipeg Sun, Canada - 8 Dec 2003

    * Medical marijuana activist loses bid for refugee status
    The Province Tuesday, December 09, 2003

    * US refugee who smokes pot to fight rare cancer loses bid to stay ...
    Toronto Sun, Canada - 8 Dec 2003

    * Canada to decide status of medical pot advocate
    Auburn Journal - Dec 07 12:41 PM

    * Cancer patient who smokes pot is denied refugee claim in Canada
    San Jose Mercury News, CA - 9 Dec 2003
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    32545 B Golden Lantern, Suite 101
    Dana Point, CA 92629
  • Support Steve Kubby

  • =======================================


    To all our relations.

    Greetings in the name of the most high, Jah Rastafari, ever faithful, ever sure, Jah Rastafari.

    One Love Brethren.

    Brethren please call upon Jah for overstanding of the time. Recall the lessons of Jesus of Nazareth,
    who defeated that Levite mafia that owned the Temple in Jerusalem, those who extorted from the
    nation in the name of Jah.
    Jesus said that it was for each of us to live our flesh in keeping with the law of Jah. Should we accomplish this and to the extent that we accomplish this, we bring the light of the Holy Spirit of Jah thru our flesh into the presense of those amongst us. Steve Kubby has chosen to use his flesh to this purpose. The proof is that we feel and see, hear and can touch the EVIL that seeks to torture his body; that we see ourselves more clearly in that light; that we are empowered to come forwardin to bring that light to those amongst us.
    Combat is difficult. Combat brings death, disfigurment, sufferation, and ultimately liberation from the oppressor. Rejoice in the persecution of Steve Kubby as it brings us all closer to the decision we all must make to either submit to the EVIL or LIVE in the Holy Spirit of Jah. Rejoice in the persecution of Steve Kubby as this brings us all closer to the strength to overcome our little trouble and make this world a little better for All Our Relations. For this we are born, this we can chose as Steve Kubby has chosen, for this we pay the price and achieve the objective Steve Kubby has declared and put his life on the line for.
    Gandhi said, "First they laugh at you, then they beat you up, and then you win."
    Perhaps Steve Kubby and his family will be welcomed at Eddy Lepp's Medicinal Gardens in Clear Lake California. If you do a www.google.com search on Eddy Lepp and chose the second mention of his Medicinal Gardens you will have the pictures of the 5 acres of medicanal pot he harvested this year and the details on the multimillion dollar lawsuit he has filed agaisnt the DEA for having stolen his produce last year.
    Brethren it is not for me to deny the danger that Steve and his family face now, the tribulations they have suffered, or the rightousness of their cause. Take heart Brethern that the murder of Peter McWilliams at the hands of the federal judge King in Los Angeles has not gone unnoticed by Jah. Our sufferation acts like a generator of a Spiritual Energy which is used to expose and defeat the EVIL in our LIVE. There is no pain unnoticed, no sacrafice uncounted.
    Steve Kubby and his family have set a standard for us all to achieve. Weep not for them but for those too blind and fear ridden to come forwardin in this time of need. Weep for those who will sit astride their own comfort and allow the CIA/NSA drug nazi's to round up another load of the drug war Jews of our day. Any Jew in the death camp is of more count then those who rest easy in the closet of their concealment.
    So Brethren, it is for all of us to overstand the Time and to bring our LIVE into the presense of Jah, to take comfort and refuge in the ways of Jah, to make Truth and Rightousness our path and our way. Truely then our children will sing great songs of us and we will all live in the paths of rightousness we have cut thru the wilderness of our ignorance, our fear, our weakness, and our shirking of the duty we see before us.

    One Love,

    Rev. Tom Brown
    First Church of the Magi
    P.O.Box 2827
    Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702
    479-251-1780

    ***********************************************************************

    Note form MAP,inc.: It is with great sadness that we at MAP read of this incomprehensible decision.
    Steve Kubby has been an active MAP supporter since it's early days.
    The fact is, without question, that if Steve Kubby is sent back to California he will most likely be
    jailed. When he was originally jailed in California, and again when he was jailed once in Canada,
    he came very close, within hours, of death. Local California officials have stated, repeatedly, that
    he will be denied his life saving medicine, which he now grows with the approval of Health Canada,
    when he is jailed.
    More Information: http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm (Kubby, Steve)


    ***********************************************************************

    The (CO) Steamboat Pilot & Today
    another article on a patient plight from: http://www.stmbt-pilot.com/
    Medical Marijuana Conflict
    By Susan Bacon
    06 December 2003

    Resident's Plants Were Seized In A Raid, But He Is Registered As A
    Legal User Don Nord, 57, moves his heavy form slowly, step by step,
    as he carries a box of firewood up to his Hayden townhome. When he
    reaches the top step, he stops to catch his breath.
    Inside, his home is dark. In the living room, a hospital bed and easy
    chair are aimed at a large television, which is turned on. Nord sits
    down at his kitchen table and hooks himself up to an oxygen tank.
    For Nord, each day can be measured in a series of pains. Since a fall
    in 1985, in which he hurt his neck and was put out of a long-term job,
    his health has deteriorated. He has battled kidney cancer, diabetes,
    a lung disease, phlebitis -- an inflammation of veins -- in both of his
    legs, and now is worried cancer has moved to his prostate.
    He takes about 20 different physician-prescribed medications.
    He also smokes marijuana.
    Although a physician can't prescribe the drug, the state does allow
    Nord to register as a legal user and grower of marijuana for medicinal
    purposes. "I smoke marijuana to help me relax at night, so I can go
    to sleep at night," he said. "Otherwise, I don't sleep."
    In mid-October, officers with GRAMNET, the Grand, Routt and Moffat
    County Narcotics Enforcement Team, obtained a warrant to search Nord's
    home for drugs and confiscated his plants and growing equipment.
    On Monday, Nord has a hearing in front of a Routt County judge to try
    to get his plants and equipment back. Conflicting state and federal
    laws may make that difficult. Under federal laws, Nord can't have the
    marijuana. Period. But under Colorado's law, he hasn't done anything wrong.
    The rules
    In 2000, Colorado voters approved a law allowing people suffering from
    debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma and
    chronic severe pain, to smoke marijuana. That clause is now written into
    the state's constitution. Colorado is one of eight states that allow medicinal
    use of marijuana. The practice also is accepted in Hawaii, Alaska, California,
    Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Maine.
    Science shows that smoking marijuana can help relieve nausea, appetite
    loss and pain that people with severe illnesses experience, said Bruce
    Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.
    -based advocacy group trying to remove criminal penalties for marijuana use.
    "The long-term trend has got to be toward allowing seriously ill people to
    use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation," Mirken said. Nord, along
    with 280 other Coloradans, is a registered marijuana user through the
    Medical Marijuana Registry program, which is administered by the Colorado
    Department of Public Health and Environment.
    To get on the registry and receive an identification card, a Colorado resident
    with a debilitating illness that can be eased by use of marijuana must submit
    a letter from a doctor and a $140 fee.
    Being on the list isn't a go-ahead to grow acres of marijuana, though. The
    Colorado law specifies that a registered user can have no more than 2 ounces
    of a usable form of marijuana and no more than six marijuana plants, only three
    of which can be mature. It gives no suggestions for how registered users legal-
    ly can obtain the marijuana or plants.
    According to statistics updated a week ago by the state health department,
    the average age of applicants for the registry is 45. Almost 70 percent are
    male. Almost 40 percent of the registered applicants live in the Denver-metro
    and Boulder areas. In Routt County, there are three registered applicants.
    Nord has been part of the registry since Aug. 28, 2002.
    To date, there have been no marijuana-related convictions of patients or
    caregivers listed on the registry, according to the health department's up-
    dated report. "However, reluctance to participate due to the inconsistencies
    between state and federal marijuana laws has been expressed by doctors
    and patients alike," the report stated.
    Federal supremacy
    To the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the inconsistency is not an
    issue; in the DEA's eyes, it simply does not exist. That's because federal
    law does not permit marijuana use, said Dan Reuter, special agent and
    public information officer for the DEA's Denver field division.
    "We really don't see it as a conflict because our mission is clear and our
    mandate is clear," Reuter said. The mandate, he said, is to crack down on
    users, sellers and producers of illegal drugs, including marijuana.
    The federal supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution says that
    federal law overrides state law whenever the two conflict, which means
    that Colorado's medicinal marijuana law doesn't hold up in federal courts,
    Reuter said. That's something the DEA does not want to change.
    No other medicinal drug comes in a smokeable form, and marijuana is
    addictive and dangerous, he said. Plus, there is a legal marijuana pill on
    the market called Marinol. "There's really no excuse for using marijuana,"
    Reuter said. "It's not a bridge to a better place; it's not medicine."
    In Nord's case, some of the officials who searched his house were part of
    GRAMNET, a federal task force that Reuter said should follow federal law.
    Reuter said he is aware of at least 10 other instances in Colorado in
    which federal officers searched someone for drugs and then found the
    person was registered with the state's medicinal marijuana program.
    In those cases, the officers seized plants, drugs and growing
    equipment and did not return them. In Nord's case, as well, Reuter
    said, administration officials have decided the confiscated drugs and
    equipment should not be returned.
    The search
    Attorney Kristopher Hammond is representing Nord at the hearing Monday
    in front of Routt County Judge James Garrecht. He said that the search
    warrant and charges against Nord were filed through a state court with
    a state judge, and so he believes that state law should be followed.
    That means, he said, Garrecht should order that the usable marijuana,
    marijuana plants, paraphernalia and growing equipment be returned to
    Nord.
    "I'm hoping the judge follows the Colorado Constitution, which requires the
    police to give the stuff back," Hammond said. "It requires them to take care
    of it and to return it."
    The state law that Hammond referred to says that any property connected
    with the use of medicinal marijuana "shall not be harmed, neglected, injured
    or destroyed while in the possession of state or local law enforcement officials
    where such property has been seized in connection with the claimed medical
    use of marijuana."
    It also states the property should be returned "immediately" when officials
    decide the user was legally registered and that charges would not be pressed.
    The search at Nord's house took place Oct. 14. A warrant for the search was
    issued by Garrecht. Hayden Police Chief Jody Lenahan said officers were expect-
    ing to find a large growing and selling operation in Nord's house.
    But they didn't.
    They found three marijuana plants, a baggie with some usable marijuana at
    the bottom, and dried marijuana leaves, which Nord said he was using for fer-
    tilizer, in a closet along with seeds, some growing equipment and several other
    items. After the search was finished, Nord was issued a ticket charging him with
    possession of between 1 and 8 ounces of marijuana and possession of drug
    paraphernalia, according to court documents.
    The ticket, which called for a court appearance Nov. 4, was not turned in to the
    courts until Nov. 6 because it was misplaced, Lenahan said. Garrecht dismissed
    the charges Nov. 17 because they were filed late. Charges could be refiled, how-
    ever, if officials desired. Deputy District Attorney Marc Guerette, who is represent-
    ing GRAMNET in the case, first filed a response to Hammond's Nov. 17 motion Nov. 20.
    In that response, Guerette contended that under Colorado law, a person with a
    medical marijuana license can possess no more than 2 ounces of usable marijuana,
    so that any amount seized exceeding 2 ounces should not be returned. Guerette
    then changed his motion five days later to state that, after consulting with the U.S.
    Attorney's Office and GRAMNET detectives, it was apparent that the return of drugs
    and equipment would be against federal law. The amended response asked the
    court to deny Hammond's motion to return the property.
    "GRAMNET is required not to return the property because ... possession of (the
    property) is a violation of federal law, and GRAMNET is a federal agency," Guerette
    said. If the judge denies the request, Hammond said he and his client will appeal
    to a higher court.
    Both Guerette and Hammond agree the case is novel for the state. Depending
    on how far it goes in the legal process, it could set a precedent for other conflicts
    between state and federal rules on medicinal marijuana.
    The waiting game
    Nord's grow room is now mostly empty, except for a few florescent tube
    lights and pots of leftover soil. Nord spends his days as he did before the search,
    watching television, driving to the post office and running errands, and sometimes
    visiting or talking on the phone with friends.
    Sitting in his living room, he's surrounded by paintings and statues of eagles, which
    he said give him a feeling of freedom.
    There's a Bible on the mantle above the fireplace, and a picture of Jesus that reads:
    "Jesus, I trust in you." God, Nord said, helps him deal with his loneliness and pain.
    So does marijuana, he said. Without his plants, during the past few weeks he's
    had to find the drug where he can. He said he knows that the medical marijuana
    card he carries is a privilege, so he is careful to stay within the parameters of the
    state law.
    When his house was searched, he said he felt confused and upset. "I didn't know
    what I did wrong," he said. "I said to them that day I didn't know I did something
    wrong. I said that over and over. "After they left, I broke down pretty hard. It made
    me feel like I didn't want to be here anymore."
    He wouldn't mind officials looking around his house to make sure he's legal, he said.
    And, though he used marijuana when he was younger, he says he's not proud of
    that and doesn't think anyone without medicinal reasons should use the drug.
    What he wants from the hearing on Monday is to get his plants and equipment returned.

    2003 The Steamboat Pilot & Today

  • The Steamboat Pilot

  • Contact: editor@steamboatpilot.com
  • Drug Enforcement Administration