The raid was “nothing but a delaying tactic they’re using to keep the truth from getting out,” he said.

Marijuana is a cure for cancer, psoriasis and other skin ailments as well as a treatment for pain related to injuries such as concussions and back injuries, he said.

“I learned the truth from my own experience.”

He said a 1997 work-related accident left him suffering from post-concussion syndrome, where he suffered from constant migraine-like pain.

He said he saw several doctors who prescribed a variety of medications, “but nothing worked. I remained in constant pain. I couldn’t get any sleep.”

A year later, after watching a TV show that outlined the medical benefits of marijuana, Mr. Simpson decided to give the drug a try.

“I got a couple of cigarettes and smoked them. To my surprise they worked.”

When he told his doctors of the treatment, they frowned on its use because of its illegality and health problems associated with sucking marijuana smoke into his lungs, he said.

None of them would give him a legal prescription for the drug but one suggested it would be better if he ingested the drug, said Mr. Simpson.

As a result he made hemp oil from the marijuana, also known as “honey oil,” and ate a spoonful.

“It worked so well I stopped using the medication the doctors prescribed for me.”

He became further convinced of marijuana’s medicinal value in 2003, shortly after being diagnosed with skin cancer. He applied the hemp oil on two lesions – a third had been previously removed surgically – and covered them with a bandage.

“Within four days they were gone. They never came back, but the one on my nose did. I treated it with the oil and again it worked.”

He gave the oil to others and discovered it cleared up a variety of skin cancers, leg inflammations, psoriasis and back pain, he said.

Rick Dwyer of Maccan said Mr. Simpson’s oil was the only drug that relieved the constant pain of a back injury.

Convinced of its value, Mr. Simpson held local meetings to expound on the virtues of medicinal marijuana.

He also began a letter campaign. He wrote the producers of the Nature of Things, hoping they would do a TV show on the value of hemp oil.

They declined.

He wrote his MLA and MP and the Canadian Cancer Society, all of whom directed him to the federal Health Department.

He wrote the department in 2003 and in 2004, suggesting it establish a clinic in Springhill and conduct tests on his oil.

Ujjal Dosanjh, the federal minister, informed Mr. Simpson in February that the government, despite the fact many Canadians believe in the medicinal value of marijuana, could not approve the drug without scientific evidence proving its benefits and defining its risks.

“At present . . . scientific evidence does not establish safety and efficacy of cannabis to the extent required by the food and drug regulations,” the minister said.

The minister informed him that it is illegal to grow or possess cannabis unless authorized by Health Canada and told Mr. Simpson that he was required to follow the regulations outlined in the Food and Drug Act if he was testing his oil on humans.

About the same time he started the letter campaign, Mr. Simpson decided to grow his own marijuana because it was difficult to get from other suppliers. RCMP seized his 2003 crop but never charged him, he said.

His crop was left alone in 2004, but he was raided again on Aug. 3, even though he informed police last May that he was growing it for medicinal purposes only, he said.

The raids and the lack of interest shown by his doctors, the cancer society and the federal government to his letters convinced Mr. Simpson that they were not interested in the healing qualities of marijuana.

After the latest raid, he is charged with the production of a controlled substance and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 26.

“I don’t think it will get that far, but if it does I’m ready to fight it because the world has to learn the medicinal value of marijuana,” he said.