Description
Who is Rick Simpson?
If prescription drugs have caused more harm than healing in your life,
you and Rick Simpson have a lot in common.
The Canadian power-engineer suffered a head injury in 1997. Like most
patients, he was prescribed pharmaceuticals to treat his symptoms. Also
like most patients, that medicine created a new set of problems: side
effects.
Simpson began using cannabis extracts and enjoyed immediate relief. He
made it his mission to share his experiences with the public and lobby
for legal access to medical marijuana.
Simpson grew cannabis in his backyard and gave THC oil away for free.
In 2003, Simpson discovered that he had basal cell carcinoma, a common
form of skin cancer. He used highly concentrated cannabis oil, now known
as RSO, topically to treat his cancer. He claims by using RSO his
cancer was healed in four days.
He is so dedicated to the cause he published the instructions to making
RSO along with dosing guidance for patients. He does not sell RSO (he
hasn’t even tried to patent his method) but encourages patients to make
it themselves.
Does RSO Cure Cancer?
There is not enough evidence to conclude that cannabis can treat cancer
according to a 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine report. That means that existing evidence is very limited.
The authors of the report examined all of the current systematic reviews
on cannabis’ effect on cancer cells. There was only one review that met
the researchers’ quality standards. That review found that cannabis
does seem to have an anti-tumor effect. The research is promising but
not enough to draw conclusions.
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More recent evidence continues to point the anti-tumor effects of
cannabis. CBD may be able to limit the expression of a
cancer-proliferating protein, authors of a 2018 Oncogene study found.
Tumors in CBD-treated mice decreased in size according to a 2019 Journal
of Surgical Research study. Still, in both cases, the authors called
for more research.
There is conclusive evidence about one role cannabis can play in
treating cancer: palliative care.
Chemotherapy causes nausea and vomiting. Oral cannabis is an effective
treatment of those side effects according to the National Academies
report.
Despite the lack of evidence, Rick Simpson promotes RSO as a cure for
cancer, citing his anecdotal experiences and those of patients he’s
helped as proof.
Simpson calls the oil a “cure-all” medicine that can treat the
following:
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MS
pain
diabetes
arthritis
asthma
infections
inflammation
blood pressure
depression
sleeping problems
There is some peer-reviewed evidence to back his theory up. Cannabinoids
have been identified as potential treatments or preventative medicine
for most of those conditions. However, there is evidence that cannabis
can worsen asthma, blood pressure, and depression.
Additionally, none of the existing, high-quality research examines the
effects of RSO specifically.
Simpson concedes that there are limits to what RSO can do. He warns that
RSO does not provide immunity from viruses. Ingesting RSO may bolster
your overall health, but it won’t make you immune to Covid-19 or any
other infectious disease.
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Can You Smoke RSO?
RSO looks a lot like oils used for vaping or dabbing, but this is not
the recommended way to use it.
RSO is intended for ingestion. You can drink small doses of it. It has a
strong, bitter taste, so you may want to incorporate it with an edible.
Most recommend dosing by droplets that are the size of a grain of rice,
as RSO is incredibly strong and not for the faint of heart.
Ingested RSO will metabolize like an edible. This means that it can take
up to 2 hours for you to feel its peak effects. However, the effects
will likely be stronger and longer lasting than those experienced from
smoking.
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Because RSO is already decarbed, it is not recommended that you cook RSO
during the edible creation process. The best RSO edibles are those that
do not require the application of heat.
You can add RSO to a beverage or sauce, for example. While you can make
pastries like RSO brownies, the heat during the cooking process may
degrade the cannabinoids.
RSO Effects
The main ingredient in RSO is THC. THC can cause the following effects:
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Euphoria
Increased appetite
Relaxation
An altered state of consciousness
Thirst
Anxiety
Paranoia
Dry mouth
Difficulty concentrating
Impaired motor skills
Though Rick Simpson strongly believes that RSO can cure many conditions
including cancer, it is recommended that you consult with your doctor
about how to incorporate RSO into your health regimen.
How to Make Rick Simpson Oil
Rick Simpson outlines the exact process for making RSO on his website.
Here’s how to do it according to his instructions.
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Materials:
450 to 500 grams of high quality, completely dried flower
8 to 9 liters of solvent (pure light aliphatic naphtha or 99% isopropyl
alcohol)
Wooden pestle about a meter in length (you can use a slab of wood)
Two 20-liter buckets
4 large empty, clean bottles. Using gallon water jugs works.
Large funnel
Coffee filters
Electric rice cooker (not a crockpot—crockpots can overheat and ruin the
oil)
Large fan
Stainless steel measuring cup
Coffee warmer
Several plastic syringes
Instructions:
Put the flower in a 20-liter bucket.
Pour in just enough solvent to dampen the flower.
Crush the dampened flower with the pestle for 3 to 4 minutes.
Pour solvent over the crushed flower until the flower is completely
covered by solvent.
Continue to crush the bud for another 3 to 4 minutes with the pestle.
Pour the solvent from the bucket into the second 20-liter bucket without
letting the flower spill out. The flower will need to be washed a
second time.
Add fresh solvent to the flower until it covers the flower completely.
Crush the bud for another 3 to 4 minutes with the pestle.
Pour the solvent into the second bucket. The second bucket should now
contain solvent from the first wash and second washes. The solvent
should be a yellowish color. This color means that there are
cannabinoids present.
Place a coffee filter into the funnel opening. Then place the narrow end
of the funnel into the opening of a large bottle. Pour the solvent from
the bucket into the coffee filter located in the funnel. The coffee
filter will catch remaining plant material as the solvent trickles into
the bottle. Keep doing this until all of the solvent has been filtered
into bottles.
Set up your rice cooker in a well-ventilated area. Place the fan nearby.
Aim the fan so that it blows at the center of the rice cooker. The fan
will blow away fumes from the solvent as the rice cooker boils off the
residual solvent. Aiming the fan toward the center of the rice cooker
will also prevent flammable fumes from accumulating near the rice
cooker’s heating element.
Fill the rice cooker with solvent and turn the rice cooker and fan on.
As the solvent reduces, add more solvent to the rice cooker until there
is none left in the bottles.
When there is about 2 inches of solvent/oil mix left in the rice cooker,
add 10 to 12 drops of water into the rice cooker. This will help boil
off any remaining solvent from the oil.
Once the contents of the rice cooker begin to boil and make a crackling
sound, you can pour the contents into the stainless-steel measuring cup.
Place the measuring cup onto the coffee warmer to boil off any
remaining water. Once the oil stops bubbling, it is ready to be removed
from the coffee warmer.
Use the syringes to draw the oil out of the measuring cups. The oil can
remain stored in the syringes.
Place the syringes in a cool dry place and use medicine as needed.
Editor’s note: This article was originally posted in 2017 and has since
been completely rewritten with more up-to-date information.
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Dianna Benjamin
Author
Dianna Benjamin
Dianna Benjamin specializes in writing health-related cannabis articles
for Wikileaf. She is a freelance writer, teacher, wife, and mom,
horrified and fascinated by social justice and our inability–yet
constant pursuit–to get it right.
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