[free-sklyarov] Alan Cox reaction

[Ethan Straffin]

> 	So, are there other examples of people leaving the US, or moving
> 	conferences outside the US, or publicly pondering as much, over
> 	free speech issues?  We have the Scientology "Cruise" missile bit,
> 	and Alan Cox, and Ross Anderson's comments to the press after IHW.

Well, while some might not consider it a speech issue, at least two
high-profile medical marijuana activists, Renee Boje (www.reneeboje.com)
and Steve Kubby (www.kubby.com), are currently in Canada as a result of
action being taken against them by the U.S. and the state of California,
respectively.  Boje, who is currently fighting extradition, is a friend of
cancer patients Todd McCormick (www.toddmccormick.org, currently serving
five years on Terminal Island) and Peter McWilliams (www.forahero.com, the
well-known Libertarian author who died choking on his own last year after
the federal government denied him his medicine).  Kubby was supposed to
report to jail on Friday, which would likely be a death sentence for him
since the state is unable to provide him with MJ for his adrenal cancer
during his sentence.

In reality, I consider the McWilliams and Kubby cases in particular to be
very much a speech issue.  McWilliams undoubtedly raised the ire of the
feds due to the influence of his books, including one book on MMJ
specifically that was unfinished at the time of his death.  And Kubby has
pissed off certain California officials in a big way due to his key role
in the passage of the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, not to mention his
run for Governor last year.  Anyone contemplating writing a story on
people who have fled to Canada to escape the "land of the free" definitely
should not fail to note the Boje and Kubby cases.

Ethan
--
"He that will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who
dares not, is a slave."                              -- William Drummond