Who Is Rick Simpson? The Story of the Man Behind the Term RSO

Few names in the world of cannabis provoke as many reactions as Rick Simpson. To some he is a hero and a pioneer, to others a controversial self-taught activist with no medical training. His name is hidden in three letters that are still heard today in dispensaries and on forums around the world: RSO, or Rick Simpson Oil. This is neither a guide nor a recommendation, but a story about the man, about the time in which the term arose, and about why there is still so much misunderstanding surrounding it.

Who is Rick Simpson?

Rick Simpson was born in Canada and spent most of his working life as an engineer, among other things working at a hospital in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. He was, therefore, a working man with a technical background, not a doctor, pharmacist or scientist. That fact is important for understanding the whole story: everything he later claimed and did stemmed from his personal experience and beliefs, not from clinical research.

According to his story, the turning point came in 1997. While exposing asbestos-covered pipes to a powerful industrial adhesive at his workplace, the fumes, he says, overcame him and he fell and suffered a head injury. He claimed that for years afterwards he was plagued by dizziness, balance problems and ringing in his ears, and that conventional therapy did not help him. It was then, according to his own account, that he first turned to cannabis.

2003: the story of an alleged self-cure

The year that set everything in motion was 2003. Simpson, as he recounted, noticed several suspicious growths on his skin which, he claims, were diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma, a form of non-melanoma skin cancer. He said he recalled a radio segment about a 1975 study in which scientists observed that THC affected tumor cells in mice. Based on that idea, according to his story, he himself began applying an oil with a very high THC content to the skin lesions.

Simpson claimed that the growths disappeared after a few days and did not return. It is crucial to emphasize: this is solely his personal claim. There is no published medical documentation, controlled trial or peer-reviewed scientific paper to confirm that event. In scientific terms, it is a single, unverified testimonial, not proof.

I am not a doctor and I do not urge anyone to do anything. I only tell people what I did, and I never wanted to profit from it. — a stance Rick Simpson publicly repeated for years (his personal statement, not a medical recommendation)

How a "recipe" became a movement

Convinced of what he had experienced, Simpson went beyond his own case. He began giving the oil away for free to sick neighbors, friends and strangers who came to his doorstep. He did not sell it, but gave it away, and he openly published to everyone the way he prepared it. It was precisely this move, publicly and freely sharing the instructions, that turned his name into a trademark. We note: we deliberately do not describe the production process here, because it would involve concentrating a psychoactive substance whose trade is prohibited.

Timeline of key events

• 1997 — Simpson suffers a head injury at his workplace; according to his own story, the ailments lead him to turn to cannabis.
• 2003 — He claims that by applying a THC-rich oil he cured himself of basal cell carcinoma; he begins giving away the oil and instructions for free.
• August 3, 2005 — Police raid his property in Nova Scotia and seize nearly 1,200 cannabis plants.
• 2007 — A Canadian court finds him guilty in proceedings related to cultivation and possession.
• 2008 — He releases the self-produced documentary "Run From The Cure", which spreads his story globally.
• 2009 onward — After repeated police actions he leaves Canada and moves to Europe; he later settles in Croatia.
• 2018 — After a stroke, he withdraws from public activity.

"Run From The Cure": the documentary that set the internet alight

In 2008, Simpson released the documentary film "Run From The Cure". In it he told his story and presented testimonials of people who, he claimed, had benefited from his oil. The film was low-budget and amateurishly shot, but in the early days of YouTube it spread with incredible speed. For many it was the first encounter with the idea of cannabis as a medicine. It is worth remaining critical: the documentary is a collection of personal testimonials and Simpson's beliefs, filmed from his perspective, and not scientific proof of efficacy.

Conflict with the law

Simpson's activity inevitably brought him into conflict with Canadian law, which at the time treated cannabis as a prohibited drug. The best known was the police raid on August 3, 2005 on his estate, when nearly 1,200 plants were seized. Court proceedings followed; in 2007 he was found guilty, and in the years that followed repeated raids and legal pressure led him to leave Canada in 2009. He himself often emphasized that he was not a classic dealer, because he did not persuade people or charge them, but they came to him. Regardless of how his case is viewed, he remains an example of a conflict between an individual and the legislation of the time.

An icon of the movement and its controversies

Through the documentary, lectures and books, Simpson became one of the recognizable faces of the global cannabis legalization movement. For part of that movement he was a symbol of the struggle against a system that, they believed, denied patients a choice. But his role is also controversial. Critics, including doctors and oncologists, warn that his claims about curing cancer are unfounded and potentially dangerous, because they may lead the ill to abandon proven therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Simpson was not a doctor and never conducted a controlled study that would substantiate his claims.

RSO is not CBD: an important difference

Because of the similar vocabulary, people often confuse RSO and CBD oils, even though they are completely different things. The difference is not a nuance, but a matter of law and effect.

In other words: when someone mentions "Rick Simpson oil", they are talking about a product with high THC that is psychoactive and legally problematic. CBD products, such as those faga offers, do not cause intoxication and operate within legal frameworks. The two have nothing to do with each other except that both come from the cannabis plant.

A sober view: what science does (not) confirm

Research on cannabinoids really does exist, and it is a legitimate scientific field. Some laboratory and preclinical experiments have shown interesting effects of cannabinoids on cells, and approved cannabinoid-based medicines are used, for example, to relieve nausea during chemotherapy or certain forms of epilepsy. But that is significantly different from the claim that RSO cures cancer. For that specific claim, on which Simpson's entire story rests, there is no evidence from controlled clinical trials in humans. What works in a test tube or in mice often does not carry over to humans, and it is precisely that step, a serious clinical trial, that is missing.