Pubdate: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2007 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Tom McCoag, Amherst Bureau Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) POT GROWER BUSTED AGAIN Maccan Area Man Says He Will Continue To Create 'Cure For Cancer' AMHERST - A Maccan area man who says his marijuana-based paste cures cancer was arrested again Friday, moments after his sentencing hearing in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on previous charges was postponed. "What's the world coming to when a man who has the cure for cancer keeps getting arrested?" Rick Simpson said to reporters as two plainclothes Amherst police officers escorted him to the police station across the street from the courthouse. "It's a crazy world," he said, shaking his head. Mr. Simpson was to be sentenced Friday for possessing, unlawfully producing and trafficking marijuana, but Justice Felix Cacchione postponed the hearing because Mr. Simpson, who represented himself at trial, has now retained a lawyer. Court officials said Halifax lawyer Duncan Beveridge will be representing Mr. Simpson, but he was not in court Friday. Justice Cacchione postponed the sentencing until Jan. 18 and was in the process of adjourning the hearing when Crown attorney Paul Drysdale interrupted him to say that Mr. Simpson would be arrested again as soon as he stepped out of the courtroom. Mr. Simpson was startled and told the court he had not been made aware of his pending arrest. "I told you I would continue" producing the marijuana paste, he told the judge. "People have to be supplied with this cure." After a five-day jury trial in September, Mr. Simpson was found guilty of possessing less than three kilograms of tetrahydrocannabinol for the purpose of trafficking, producing marijuana and possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana. Tetrahydrocannabinol is commonly referred to as THC, the main psychoactive substance in marijuana. He was charged after an Aug. 3, 2005, RCMP raid on his Little Forks Road property that netted 1,190 plants. A police marijuana expert testified that many plants could create 83,300 grams of smokable marijuana, enough to last a heavy user for 76 years. At trial, Mr. Simpson admitted to possessing and growing marijuana on his property and to giving the oil he created from the plant to people suffering from a variety of ailments ranging from cankers to cancer. After the jury found him guilty, Mr. Simpson urged Justice Cacchione to jail him immediately because he vowed to continue "treating his patients." Mr. Simpson is to be arraigned Monday in Amherst provincial court on the new trafficking charge. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom