Rick Simpson, cannabis researcher and activist, joins Jason Spiess to talk about his path of resisting using cannabis as medicine, making oil, using it and having his home raided by the authorities.
He currently consults with many medical organizations and countries about the medicinal research on cannabis.
According to WebMD, Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) is an oil made from the flowers of the cannabis (marijuana) plant, gets attention online from people who claim it treats cancer. There's no solid evidence for it. But some early research suggests that some chemicals in marijuana have future potential as a cancer treatment.
Cannabis oil comes in many types and formulations. These include cannabidiol (CBD) oil, which is often part of medical marijuana.
Unlike many other cannabis oils, Rick Simpson Oil is high in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana. THC is the chemical in marijuana that provides the "high."
Online reports say Simpson is a Canadian engineer and cannabis activist. After a bad fall, he found that marijuana helped lessen his dizziness and other symptoms. Later, when he developed basal cell skin cancers on his arm, Simpson used cannabis oil as a treatment. As the reports go, his skin cancers went away.
Transcript below.
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Below is the raw, unedited transcript from our artificial intelligence translator.
Rick Simpson
I'll tell you the best way to get cannabis is legalized is just for everybody to get off their asses and tell the government to go straight to hell. I mean, this is it's all bullsh it. You know, these laws, none of this is real. There's never been any real laws against cannabis. It's just all this damn corruption. You know, I can't believe, you know, like in 1923 they outlawed it in Canada.
And then in 1919 37 with the tax act in the US. You know, that these laws and acts were all put in place with deceptions and lies, you know? No. I mean, when you look at the history of this plant, my God, the most medicinal plant, you know, in history. That was a known fact long before the time of christ.
Jason Spiess
So
Rick Simpson
who who has the right to outlaw the most medicinal plant on earth.
Jason Spiess
Let's talk about your, your your path along the way here, um, I was introduced to you through obviously literature that you were an early adapter of cannabis oil. You would make your own or you invented a certain way to make your own oil. Talk about how you initially got so involved with the cannabis industry.
Rick Simpson
Well, I, I mean, what had happened with me? You see, I had, I suffered a severe head injury at work in 1997. I worked at a hospital and it left me with what they called post concussion syndrome. So they started sending me to all these doctors and they were putting all these pills in me which were making me nothing but worse because it left me with this head ringing 24 hours a day and sometimes extremely loud And that drove my blood pressure crazy.
I had balance issues from the injury plus the chemicals that the doctors were feeding me, I was just getting worse and worse. So then in late 1998, about a year after my injury, I was watching an episode of the nature of things with Dr. David Suzuki and this episode was called Reefer Madness too. But it showed all these people smoking cannabis and they were getting relief from many serious medical issues.
So I mean I had smoked cannabis before but I never looked at it like a medicine. So I went out and I got some cannabis from a friend of mine and I when I tried it sure enough it worked better than anything the doctors were giving me and in Canada we had the marijuana access program which is not really nothing but a bad joke. But you know, the doctors would not give me a prescription so I could use this legally.
So I, you know, I believe in the medical system. So this went on for a couple more years. And then by 1999 the effects of the pills they were feeding me were making me suicidal. You know, I was ready to put an end to my life. So one day I thought well if anybody is going to help you you know I guess it's going to have to be me help yourself. So I got thinking you know what would happen if I made the essential oil from the cannabis plant.
I mean smoking the but was actually giving me more rest you know that see that was a problem with my head I couldn't sleep and but the smoke smoking it did have a sedating effect but it still wasn't giving me to sleep and rest I needed. So I thought you know if you strip the the tri combs off the good but good indica buds you know the sedated varieties if you strip the strike comes off and you know making an essential oil and you ingest it you know what would that do?
So I went to my doctor's office and I asked him the same question you know as opposed to smoking it. What would he think if I ingest made the essential oil and ingested it? And when I did that said that told him he just got the strangest look on his face. But he did admit he said this would be a more medicinal way to use this substance. So I hate to say it.
But I mean I went home and I did produce the extract but then I was afraid to use it because all these doctors I had asked for a prescription had been so reluctant you know to provide me you know with the prescription I needed. I thought that you know while they kept saying you know it's bad for the lungs, it's still under study. You know the plant has been used in medicine for 5000 years is still under study.
What a joke. So I you know, I was literally afraid to use it. I knew it would be sedated but I didn't know what else it would do. And then in late 2001 I was called to the Doctor's office and he just told me-point blank, he said we tried everything at our disposal. Nothing has helped you, you're on your own. So again I asked him for a prescription so I can do this legally, no prescription.
So having nowhere to turn, I went home and I started ingesting the cannabis or the extract from the cannabis. You see when the medical system cut me loose. The effect of these pills you know I had on my mind. Well it was so bad that I could hardly even remember my own name. This is the effect they have. And a lot of people with my in my situation actually commit suicide because it seems like you're in a hopeless situation.
So I started taking the extract and I mean it was just amazing like uh you know I was taking in about an hour before I went to bed and it was just knocking me out. You know that I was increasing the dosage quite rapidly. But I was getting, you know, 8, 10, 12 hours sleep. Well. I hadn't had any proper sleep in five years. So the effect was very dramatic.
And and then, you know, my thinking processes all started to clear up. My body began to detoxify too. I started losing quite a bit of weight. And that was I found that kind of shocking. But when I got back to the proper body weight for my height, I just stopped losing weight. And the arthritis in my knees disappeared. It was so many things that it did for me and you know, everybody around me seeing the improvement.
But then it was a year, about a year later in late 2002, I went to see the doctors about these three lesions I'd had well since the 1990s and you know, and these lesions wouldn't heal. So I strongly suspected there were some form of skin cancer. So the doctor looked at my the one close to my CI had one on the side of my nose, very close to my right eye.
I had one on my left cheek and I had one on my chest. So I went into the medical system. And I mean the doctor when he seen it, he said, well that one close to your eye, that's the one I'm most concerned about because of the proximity to the eye. So they took me in, they said that they would do the other two areas at a later date, but that's the one they were concerned with.
So I went in and they operated And it was about a week after that operation. I was sitting there and I had one was magnified mirrors and I was looking at the area they had operated on. And of course, there was some infection there which is very common in hospitals these days, sadly. And it was right at that very moment that a report I'd heard back around 1975 on our local radio station popped back into my mind and the report had stated the THC the active ingredient in marijuana.
That's something actually we we should stop using that ridiculous name. We're talking about the cannabis hemp plant here. But the THC in the cannabis hemp plant had been found to kill cancer cells. But the announcer that I had heard that day, he was laughing like a fool. So I thought it was just somebody's sick sense of humor and play. But you know, and and and by that time too, I've been ingesting the extract myself for about a year at that point, and I thought well if it was really
true, the THC killed cancer, then why did I still have cancer? You know, because the extracts that I was producing was full of THC, you know, up into the 85 90% range THC So, you know, I you know, I just couldn't conceive because I mean I was told from the time I was a child that they're looking for preventative medicine.
They're looking for a cure for cancer. And I could not concede that the Canadian government would hold something like this back if it was really true. And the same thing with the medical system. Mean doctors are there to heal us at least that's what we're told. But I found out otherwise. So so can
Jason Spiess
I ask you a question here? I mean you you um I'm calling you and you're in Croatia and you mentioned the Canadian government here. I'm in America and I'm familiar with the rick Simpson oil and the benefits, you know through like I said through my research. So did you, where were you drove out of Canada? Did you do it on your own I guess. What is your is your passion for life and and the rick Simpson oil and your move to Croatia anyway, connected.
Rick Simpson
Oh yes. Well I mean the police kept raiding me when I was in Canada, they charged me, I went through a charter challenge which again was just more the whole thing was just fixed. That's the only way I can put it. I mean if you're looking for justice in Canada you're not going to find it. You know, I went through the Supreme Court in nova Scotia case and in the end the crown prosecutor tampered with my jury that's what he had to do to make sure I was found guilty you know, but in the end they
only gave me a $2000 fine you see there was there was no money or anything even brought up during my case because I was giving the extract away, you know big crime you know give somebody extract to help them heal. But so actually after that that was in early 2008 when I was sentenced and then they find me the $2000. So for almost two years they left me alone but then I was asked to attend the cannabis cup in 2009 to give a lecture there, you know about this medicine and while I was attending
the cannabis cup the Canadian government had the royal Canadian mounted police when there and raid my home and what they were doing, they were trying to frame me, you know, they said that they found restricted weapons booby traps and £70 of cannabis in my home now, I mean I have been robbed twice, you know and I'm sure as hell I would not get on an airplane and go to Amsterdam for a week, you know was £70 of good cannabis sitting in my house so that the whole thing was just a big
smokescreen but I think what it was at that point I was such a thorn in the Canadian government's backside and I was getting more and more supporters every day. So I I believe that they thought that, you know, if they did this, then that would keep me from returning home. And it did because I mean if I had gone back to Canada, they would have thrown me in jail and I wouldn't have had any medication, you know, to treat myself.
So for three years I stayed in europe, I went back finally in 2012 I went back and I stayed there for a few months. But in 2013 I I became so disgusted, you know, with the people and the way they acted. I mean all the towns and everything in, in my area, I had treated like, you know, over 5000 people while I was doing this and I would go to a lot of these people and you know, they'd all say the same thing, you know, yes, we know it works and I look at them and say, well why don't you do something
about it? You know, it goes around the politician's office, make them represent you properly. Oh no, we can't do that. You know, like they're afraid of their own stupid government. You know, we pay their salaries. But apparently most people forget that fact And I just found that hall so disturbing. And then everywhere I looked in Canada, all I seen was corruption and it just didn't feel like my homeland anymore.
So I came back to Europe and I've been living in Europe since 2013 people over here are more open minded, you know, like in North America people are so brainwashed about this subject. They don't know whether they're coming or going.
Jason Spiess
We have rick Simpson on the line with us and rick Simpson would be and I've talked to quite a few health professionals about cannabis and it comes to Mount Rushmore. Rick Simpson would be one of the four faces up on Mount Rushmore more when it comes to medicinal marijuana. He's put together a soil that really is a foundation for a lot of research. And as as anybody from any university or say Israel or anybody reached out to you to find out, you know, kind of some of your your processes
through the years that you found uh with your with your just anecdotal and scientific research, anybody of an official or are you just so blackballed in the scientific community that they don't want anything to do with you.
Rick Simpson
Well, no, I don't I don't feel that I'm being blackballed. I mean I do lectures with the top experts in the world, you know dr lumieres dr paul, Hornby dr robert bellamy, you know, these guys are considered experts worldwide. So I'm not ostracized in that way. Uh what I've had, I've had many companies chasing me around wanting me to collaborate with them.
But from what I've seen from for the most part they're just Gangsters, they want to make, you know, they want to make this medicine and sell it at a great big high price. Well, I don't want no part of that. Well, I'm in this fight for the people.
Jason Spiess
Yeah. And and what I'm hearing that is exactly what I thought was happening was okay, here's your a pioneer and they didn't know what to do with the pioneer. So go to the old playbook, just set them up. Smear them, do all those things. So everybody around is even afraid to be associated with the man. Well, As that as they were doing that public opinion really shifted. I mean, when you go back three weeks, I think there was a story that I think 70% of Americans now are in favor of medicinal
marijuana, cannabis, excuse me in cannabis. And so when people are 70% in favor, people have to go back to you and say, well we were wrong about him. Are people doing that now? Are they coming back to you and saying we're sorry, we were wrong about a lot of your research.
Rick Simpson
Well, you know, I've been contacted by a great number of doctors now. I mean doctors actually call me for medical advice, which seems a bit ridiculous, but that's what's happening. And uh yeah, I mean a lot of people have backtracked on this, but you see I've been so adamant about this, you know, and I've pushed it so hard and I have to mention the fact that when I look at organizations like normal and cheek and Chong and people like that.
I mean, I don't even consider these people to be cannabis activists. You know, they're all down on their knees saying to the government, please legalize, please decriminalize. You know, oh, and it's okay to tax us. You know, this is nothing but bullshit brother. What's need, what needs to be done right now? Every country on this planet has to repeal these idiotic laws because none of it's based in rio.
And if you look right in the Christian Bible, it says right in the Christian Bible that we, as humans have every right to use these plants and we're talking about a harmless non addictive plant that has been used and documented use in medicine for 5000 years. What the hell do these people think they're doing and why don't the American people get off their knees and tell their government to get lost.
Jason Spiess
All right, we got rick Simpson on the line of this, we're gonna be wrapping up here. We got some final thoughts and I wanted to kind of ask, um, some advice and I think you kind of gave some of it right there, but in, in North Dakota, uh, they passed medicinal cannabis and then the state legislature went in and rewrote it and essentially killed the industry.
It's still not going yet. They're in a public comment period. It's probably not gonna happen now recreational has now made the ballot full legalization is now going to be on the ballot. What advice do you have or what words do you have for the voters of North Dakota when it comes to a legalized
Rick Simpson
cannabis? Well, I I think it's time for all americans to start scrutinizing their their their state governments and their federal government. You know, I mean, you have to look at the, you know, what was done to this plant and what reaction this has had on the people. I mean, think about how many people have died because they did not have access to a safe non addictive medicine that could have healed them.
You know, we're not talking about just a few here, We're talking hundreds of millions if not billions have died over the last few decades. And this is all just about greed, you know, the, the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry and I would strongly recommend there's another Canadian, I have a great deal of respect for. His name is James Corbett. He does a series on the internet called the Corbett Report.
If you go to episode 2 86 of the Corbett report is called Rockefeller Medicine. If you watch that report, you'll know why we have a medical system that does not work and why doctors are breaking their own Hippocratic oath every day because in the Hippocratic oath, it states, I shall not administer poison
Jason Spiess
and how about making a living these days. I know you got some books, I'd like to give you an opportunity to plug anything that you want in order for. You know, you've got books or speaking that sort of thing. Um appreciate you coming on here, taking the time, giving us your knowledge. And now I'd like to just give you an opportunity to plug anything that you've got going on.
Rick Simpson
Well my wife started a publishing company here uh you know our own publishing company called Simpson Raymond or and my books are available. There are also available on my website phoenix tears dot C A. And the CIA stands for Canada. I have two books phoenix tears rick Simpson story and then there's phoenix tears rick Simpson oil, Nature's Answer for cancer.
And the books are available there and they're also available as ebooks from Amazon Kindle. So you know, a lot of people have read them and I've had a lot of good, you know, reports back that people enjoyed them. And I think that you know what I was trying to do is just show people that there is a very simple way for us to heal ourselves actually in many cases without the need of a doctor at all.
And this medicine, I mean it's like I said, we all have the right to grow this in reality that is our natural right and we all have the right to produce these medications if that's what we wish to do And I mean it's time to set the cannabis plant free because it's not just about the medicine, although this is a wonderful aspect. When you look at all the other uses, you know, it can solve practically all of the problems that we could, you know, that we currently have today.
You know, there are energy needs, we can put an end to starvation. It just goes on and on over 60,000 different things. Practically everything we use in our day to day lives can be produced from long lasting earth friendly cannabis. Why aren't we doing this? Why we're letting these rich industrialists, you know, literally kill this planet, which in turn will kill us because the environment we're living in today is toxic.
We're living in a poison world and we're not designed to live in a poisoned environment. It's that simple. And that's the reason you're seeing such an increase in cancers and crones and Alzheimer's and all these diseases. It seems like they come up with a new one every day. You know, here's a rational solution. It's nonaddictive. It presents no danger and no one in history has ever died from cannabis
Jason Spiess
rick Simpson. I appreciate the time. Like I said in my, in my opinion and I know many others, you are one of the four heads on Mount Rushmore in the cannabis industry and I thank you very much for your time and uh I hope we talked down the road,
Rick Simpson
Well, I look forward to it, Jason. And you know, I think you, you know, people like you deserve a lot of credit too, because, you know, without folks like you, people like me couldn't get our message out. So, you know, I'm just asking the american people to look at things rationally and stand up for their rights and I think we can make this world a whole lot better place for us all.
Interview was conducted on December 14, 2017.
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