CANNABIS CRUSADER SIMPSON EXILED IN EUROPE

SPRINGHILL - One day before Rick Simpson was lauded as the Freedom
Fighter of the Year at the annual Cannabis Cup in Europe, police here
once again raided his Little Forks home.

Simpson, who claims he has found a cure for cancer and other ailments
with hemp oil, has now declared himself an exile in Europe. Twice
convicted of drug charges, he has thus far been able to avoid a jail
sentence, but said he fears he won't be so lucky this time.

"If I return home, I will be arrested and put in jail without bail or
medicine," he said, in an e-mail message to supporters. "I am not
afraid of their jails but I cannot go without my medicine. the system
has nothing that could help me with my conditions. So for me to return
to Canada would be like committing suicide."

Simpson, who grows marijuana plants, extracts the oil, and provides it
to sick people, free of charge, has never hidden his activities from
the police. When convicted in September of 2007, he even told the
judge that he would not stop, and would continue to grow the plant
until the day he died.

In his recent message, which his daughter Rhonda confirmed was
authentic, he admitted to growing hemp in his backyard this summer,
and claimed the RCMP knew what he was doing. He suggested the purpose
of the raid was to keep him from returning to Canada. He apologized to
those people back home that depend on his medicine, but encouraged
those who need it to make it themselves.

"It seems the goal is to keep me from returning home and they
succeeded. But to what end?" he asked. "All hemp magazines on this
planet are now telling their readers how to heal themselves with this
wonderful medicine. If governments want to live in denial, it will be
short-lived. We are gaining tens of thousands of followers every day.
You cannot stop the truth."

Simpson, who is staying with friends in Europe but is seeking
donations from supporters to help with his expenses, traveled last
month to the Cannabis Cup, an annual celebration put on by High Times
magazine.

"It is unconscionable to treat a saint in this manner," said High
Times editor Steve Hagar, in presenting Simpson with the Freedom
Fighter of the Year award. An article about Simpson appeared in the
magazine about a week prior to the recent raid.

While local police could not be reached for comment, Simpson's son
Mike, who was looking after his father's property while he was gone,
said he arrived at the property while the raid was in progress last
Wednesday. Although he claimed the police removed several surveillance
cameras he had in the house, he was able to obtain several photographs
of the raid.

"No one was there," he said. "They just tried to go in and do a quick
smash and grab."

There were no plants on the property at the time of the raid, but
police seized some old cultivation equipment that they had left behind
on previous raids, according to Mike. In his message, Rick said he
contacted Const. Tim Hunter of the Amherst police and was told only
that they wanted to talk to him.

Information released by the police last week confirmed only that the
Cumberland Integrated Street Crime Enforcement Unit, with assistance
from Amherst Police, and the Parrsboro, Amherst and Oxford RCMP
detachments, executed a search warrant on an Athol residence and
charges are pending against a 59-year-old male after a "substantial
amount" of marijuana and cannabis resin was seized, along with drug
trafficking materials, marijuana production equipment and prohibited
weapons.

Both of Simpson's sons, Mike and Mitch, are confident their father has
enough international backing that he will be able to return home
safely later this month, but are disappointed with what the man has
had to go through in his efforts to help people.

"I come home from Alberta on vacation, and people look at me like I'm
a criminal because I'm his son," said Mitch. "He's getting awards over
in Europe, and here he's (seen as) a drug dealer. There's no gray
area. Here, it's either right or wrong."

But support on the international stage has been growing steadily,
according to Mike, who said some of the top researchers in the world
are now on a speaking tour with his father in Europe. He said he will
have several powerful witnesses to back him up, should he ever have to
go to court again.

Mitch said he just wants those in authority to open their minds about
it.

"I don't want so much for them to leave it alone, but to accept what
he's doing," he said. "Or, at least give him guidance as to what
direction he can go with this."