Pubdate: Fri, 26 Sep 2008
Source: Amherst Daily News (CN NS)
Copyright: Amherst Daily News 2008
Contact:  http://www.amherstdaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3379
Author: Brad Works
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)

SIMPSON GIVES CAMPAIGNING A SECOND TRY

Excluded From Candidates Debate, Hemp Advocate Says He's  Already
Being Treated Unfairly

AMHERST -Better known for hemp advocacy than his last  run for federal
office, Rick Simpson has become the  second independent candidate in
the race to represent  Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley in
the House  of Commons.

Simpson, 58, of Little Forks, Cumberland County filed  his nomination
papers Monday for the Oct. 14 federal  election.

"I ran in the last election on the same issue," said  Simpson, a
former power engineer. "They called me the  one issue candidate but
they were wrong, hemp is not  just one issue."

He said using hemp is more than just about curing  cancer, which he
and his supporters claim he has been  doing with the plant for years.

"It's not just medicinal," Simpson explained in a  telephone interview
from his home. "It's capable of  producing energy, creating jobs and
supporting  industries that won't be harmful to the earth.

"We have to get people back to the land," he said. "If  the economy
collapses, which it's close to doing,  cities will become war zones.
At least in the 1930s  (during the Great Depression) most people lived
off the  land."

Simpson acknowledges his way of thinking flies against  society's
accepted norms, but is undeterred.

"Today we have fossil fuels and corruption," he said,  "and the fossil
fuels are almost gone."

Last February, after being fined $2,000 for production  of marijuana,
possession of marijuana, and possession  of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
for the purpose of  trafficking, following an incident in 2005,
Simpson  pondered leaving the country.

"After five years of trying to bring this medicinal oil  to the
people, I'm very disillusioned as to how this  country is being run.
It seems the health and welfare  of Canadians means nothing to
Ottawa," Simpson told the  Amherst Daily News.

Now he is trying to evoke change from the inside, but  says he is
facing an uphill battle.

"The Truro Chamber of Commerce has already called me to  say I'm not
welcome at their candidates debate.

"It's not fair," he said. "You pay your $1,000, collect  your 100
signatures and you're not allowed to speak."

The Truro chamber, which is hosting a candidates'  debate for the
riding on Oct. 2, sees it differently.

"Mr. Simpson is a one issue candidate," said executive  director Tim
Tucker. "We will be debating a broad  spectrum of issues."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin