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POT ACCUSED SEEKS JURY TRIAL
By Hempology | September 28, 2005
AMHERST – A Maccan man who says he was growing marijuana to help himself and 300 others with medical conditions including cancer has asked to be tried in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on three charges stemming from a police raid on his property last month that netted more than 1,200 marijuana plants.
“I want to be tried by a judge and jury,” Rick Simpson said Monday while representing himself during a brief appearance in Amherst provincial court.
Mr. Simpson wanted to plead not guilty to one count each 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, but Judge Carole Beaton said he would have to wait until he made an appearance in Supreme Court before entering a plea.
He is to appear in Supreme Court on Oct. 6, when the court will take jurisdiction of the case and set a date for trial.
The Crown elected to proceed summarily on the first charge but indicated to the court it considers the latter two charges to be indictable offences. As a result, Mr. Simpson is looking at a maximum seven-year sentence on the production charge and five years less a day on the trafficking charge. He faces a $1,000 fine, six months in jail or both on the possession charge.
Mr. Simpson waived his right to a preliminary hearing in provincial court, saying “I don’t need one.”
The charges resulted from an Aug. 3 raid on Mr. Simpson’s property. He told The Chronicle Herald shortly after the raid that he wanted police to return the marijuana plants to him because he was growing them to create a medication he uses himself and has provided free to 300 people he treats for a variety of illnesses.
He claimed the raid was an attempt to prevent the public from finding out that marijuana is a cure for cancer and psoriasis and other skin ailments and reduces pain from concussions and back injuries.
“I learned the truth from my own experience,” he said, detailing how a 1997 work injury left him suffering from post-concussion syndrome, how prescribed medications didn’t work and how he elected to try marijuana after seeing a TV show outlining its medical benefits.
To his surprise, he said, the marijuana worked. He told his doctors but none would give him a prescription for medical marijuana. Still, he stopped using his prescription medication and began ingesting hemp oil, also known as honey oil, that he made himself.
He said he also used the oil to cure basal cell carcinoma that infected him in 2003. He also said he has given the oil to others who were also relieved of their symptoms for cancer, psoriasis, back pain and leg inflammations. Mr. Simpson further alleged the federal government knew he was growing marijuana as he wrote to the Health Department in 2003 and 2004 to suggest it establish a marijuana clinic in Springhill and conduct tests on his hemp oil.
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh replied in February, telling Mr. Simpson in a letter that the government, despite many Canadians’ belief in the medicinal value of marijuana, could not approve the drug without scientific evidence proving its benefits and defining its risks.
He outlined Canada’s medical marijuana policy and stressed that it’s illegal to grow or possess the drug unless authorized by Health Canada.
Mr. Simpson said Ottawa isn’t interested in testing his oil because large pharmaceutical companies are pressuring the government to ignore the medical benefits of marijuana. He admitted he has no proof to back up his allegation.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
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