[Sativa]

A Maccan-area man who says marijuana cures cancer admitted Thursday he grew marijuana on his property, turned it into an oil and distributed the oil free of charge to people fighting a variety of diseases.

However, Ricky Logan Simpson, 57, told the jury hearing his Nova Scotia Supreme Court trial on three drug charges that he should not be considered a criminal because the laws forbidding the possession, growing and distribution of marijuana are unconstitutional.

Mr. Simpson faces charges of possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana, possessing less than three kilograms of cannabis resin for the purpose of trafficking and unlawfully producing marijuana.

The charges were laid following an Aug. 3, 2005, raid on his Little Forks Road property that netted 1,190 plants with a street value of between $400,000 and $800,000.

"What am I doing in this court, and what right does the RCMP have to terrorize the public with a law that does not exist?" Mr. Simpson, who is representing himself, told the jury during his testimony.

He read his entire testimony from an 11-page document. He explained he first began using marijuana to treat post-concussion syndrome after prescription drugs failed. The marijuana "did more for me than all of the pills prescribed to me by my doctor," he said.

A subsequent brush with skin cancer that he cured with hemp oil, and the curing effects it had on dozens of people who used his product, along with different scientific publications, convinced him that marijuana was a "miracle, cure-all drug," he added.

He criticized his doctor for failing to get him a licence to possess and grow medicinal marijuana, saying the physician refused to even discuss the medicinal value of marijuana.

Mr. Simpson testified that he had not hidden his efforts to help people with his hemp oil. He said that over a four-year period he brought "the miracle cure of marijuana" to the attention of the police, the medical community, two different federal ministers of health, local politicians and the media.

All of them ignored him, he said. He was particularly miffed at the Canadian Cancer Society, which ignored his request to evaluate his cure for cancer.

"The cancer society runs from the cure to cancer; they’re not running to cure cancer," he said. And greedy pharmaceutical companies and physicians don’t want this cheap medication getting into the hands of peoplebecause it would hurt their bottom line, he said.

The trial is scheduled to continue Monday when the Crown presents rebuttal evidence. It is expected the jury will begin deciding Mr. Simpson’s fate next Tuesday.





News Hawk- User http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: The Halifax Herald
Author: TOM McCOAG
Contact: Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca
Copyright: 2007 The Halifax Herald Limited
Website: Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca