[420 Girl]

Ricky Simpson, 58, was to have entered a plea Monday to a charge of trafficking not more than three kilograms of cannabis resin. But the hearing in Amherst provincial court was cut short when Truro lawyer Linda Hupman told Judge Carole Beaton that the Crown and defence lawyers handling the case were not in attendance and were asking for a postponement until Feb. 28.

Ms. Hupman did not give a reason for the delay or why the lawyers were not present. Judge Beaton granted her request, marking the second time Mr. Simpson's plea has been postponed.

He was arrested last month as he stepped out of a Nova Scotia Supreme Court hearing in Amherst in which he learned his sentencing had been postponed on three other drug charges.

After a five-day trial in September, a jury found him guilty of possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana and less than three kilograms of tetrahydrocannabinol for the purpose of trafficking and unlawfully producing marijuana. Tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC, is the main active ingredient in marijuana.

Those charges were laid after an Aug. 3, 2005, RCMP raid on his Little Forks Road property. The raid netted 1,190 plants that a police marijuana expert said would create 83,300 grams of smokable marijuana.

During his Supreme Court trial, Mr. Simpson admitted to growing marijuana on his property and using it to create a hemp oil that he claimed cures everything from cankers to cancer. He said he distributed the hemp oil free to about 300 patients who needed his cure.

When he was first convicted, he urged Justice Felix Cacchione to jail him immediately because he would continue to treat his patients as long as he was free.

His sentencing was postponed again Monday and now is scheduled for Feb. 8.

Mr. Simpson remains free on a $2,000 surety with conditions. He is not to possess, use, consume or produce any controlled substance, including marijuana or cannabis resin, unless he has a doctor's prescription or obtains a legal right to do so through the federal government's medical marijuana program.


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