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The Simpsons tv show has been around for a very, very long time. This genre-defining comedy cartoon series brought animation to the mainstream, leading in many television viewership categories, winning awards and capturing hearts, minds & funnybones for multiple generations. Homer has been uttering “doh!” between Duff beer burps since 1989… yes, the 80’s! 34 seasons later and Simpsons has continued to make us laugh & smile whilst seemingly predicting future events in the most uncanny of ways.
34 years of delivering the hits is quite the legacy, and there’ll never be another show quite like The Simpsons – sorry Family Guy, but don’t clutch your knee and feign anguish too soon, you’re in your own category of ridiculous, iconic-levels of success. Homer, Marg, Bart, Lisa & Maggie have garnered a level of fame that has led the Simpsons to alter the course of popular culture around the world – they aren’t the only Simpsons that have done this, however. There’s a Canadian cousin of theirs that has managed to shift the landscape forever with his contributions to health, wellbeing and longevity.
Where The Simpsons have brought people together with comedy, Rick Simpson is a pioneer in the realm of cannabis. This unwitting weed icon might not receive the same accolades as Homer, but Rick’s commitment to providing life-saving cannabis treatments goes beyond anything showbusiness could ever accomplish.
You can’t talk about Rick Simpson without mentioning his groundbreaking cannabis concentrate formulations – Rick Simpson Oil. Otherwise known as RSO, Rick Simpson oil has as rich & complex of a story as it is potent with cannabinoids & terpenes. What is RSO? How do you use RSO syringes? Can you dab RSO oil for pain? Why is Rick Simpson oil so famous?! We’ll answer all the questions and more as we delve into the legend of Mr. Rick Simpson and his life-saving concentrates & extracts.
What Is RSO?
Before we talk about what’s in the syringe – or how to use an RSO syringe for that matter – it’s important that you know the origins of Mr. Simpson and why he created his famous RSO. As is the case for much of the cannabis culture today, RSO came about almost by accident – RSO oil for pain, insomnia or anxiety wasn’t a thing until one fateful day in the late 1990’s.
It was 1997, and an established engineer named Rick Simpson was working at a hospital in eastern Canada. After a tragic injury that led to a major illness in his lungs while working on said hospital – asbestos played a role – Rick Simpson was forced to come face-to-face with his own mortality, and what he experienced led him to develop one of the most potent, life-saving cannabis remedies on the planet. It turned out that asbestos laden pipes where he was working at the hospital caused him to collapse from exposure. Rick developed tinnitus, breathing problems and a host of vertigo-like symptoms that persisted to affect his quality of life. He tried many treatments and medications, but nothing could rid him of these debilitating conditions. That was, until he fell into medical marijuana treatments that seemed to immediately provide the relief he has been seeking for a number of years.
Despite his newfound success with cannabis treatments, years later Mr. Simpson developed basal carcinoma, a type of skin cancer that likely developed due to his asbestos encounter. In 2003, obtaining high-grade medical marijuana wasn’t the easiest thing to accomplish. It had only been two years since the landmark case of Terence Parker helped to legalize medical marijuana in Canada, so accessing effective cannabis remedies was a tough task for most would-be stoners.
This hard-working guy named Rick didn’t grow up as a staunch cannabis advocate – if anything he was a little mainstream in his support of the status quo. It wasn’t until he experienced the hardships that many cannabis users have gone through over the years that Rick Simpson decided enough-was-enough. After reading an iconic study from the 1970’s from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Mr. Simpson set his sights on reversing the effects of his own cancer with some high-potency cannabis treatments.
Even to Rick Simpson’s shock & awe, he had so much success with topical applications of his homemade, high-potency cannabis oils that it seems like he was able to use it to overcome his skin cancer. That’s right – according to Mr. Simpson, his ‘Rick Simpson oil’ reversed the growth of his cancer cells and was the primary driver for reversing the disease. Rick Simpson has lived cancer-free since these fateful days in the early 2000’s, and he isn’t the only one who has fought and won against the “big C” using some “c” of their own in cannabis concentrates.
Ever since he beat his cancer, Rick Simpson was thrust into the spotlight as a major cannabis advocate in Canada. His RSO oil for pain changed how people battled with the symptoms of cancer. Not only was RSO effective at helping people to cope with the symptoms of the cancers, but evidence continued to pile up in favor of concentrated cannabinoids having the ability to attack cancer cells directly, therefore showing curative properties against one of the most feared conditions on the planet.
What exactly is RSO? And why is using RSO syringes so effective at treating such serious health conditions? What makes RSO so effective is that it’s a complex cannabis formulation – i.e. as a full-spectrum concentrate of all the available cannabinoids & terpenes, you’re getting the most out of the plant possible. This sheds light on one of the most popular follow up questions – why is RSO so dark and thick compared to other cannabis oils?
RSO oil for pain is designed to be extremely potent, sometimes reaching cannabinoids concentrations in the hundreds of milligrams. Not only are Rick Simpson oil products derived from potent strains of cannabis, they contain the entire spectrum of active compounds that the plants produce. By focusing on maintaining the purity & potency of all of the phytocompounds and not just isolating certain kinds, Rick Simpson made many medical marijuana users realize the true potential of cannabis medicine. The entourage effect of all the phytocompounds can lead to truly remarkable benefits such as chronic pain relief, massive reductions in inflammation, reversal of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the prevention of seizures. What is RSO typically used for? Phoenix Tears have gained a popular following amongst patients suffering from cancer, MS, epilepsy, autoimmune disorders and many more debilitating conditions.
Some studies have concluded that RSO concentrates demonstrate a variety of powerful effects, even assisting your body in the ultimate fight against cancer. While the medical community isn’t quite ready to admit that it can reverse the terms of cancer cells, there are thousands of people who claim Rick Simpson’s oils were the catalyst for their road to recovery.
Now that we know what RSO is we need to determine how to use RSO syringes, what the most popular uses for RSO are, can you dab RSO and what to expect when you consume/absorb Rick Simpson oil for the first time.
How To Use RSO Syringes
Learning how to use RSO isn’t the hard part – finding an effective dose that isn’t too powerful for your mind, but is still potent enough to cure what ails your body… that is the trick. Because of the alcohol contents used in extraction – in addition to other potentially toxic, combustible extraction chemicals – you can’t dab RSO safely. This might disappoint some of the avid vapers, dabbers and extract riggers, but Rick Simpson oil is meant to be ingested orally or applied topically – that’s it. So, while you can’t dab RSO products or vaporize them, you can benefit from their intense cannabinoids & terpenes the food old fashioned ways: ingestion or absorption.
Rick Simpson has maintained a steady presence online and through publications, thankfully. From his website you can receive dosing instructions from the legend himself, which we will summarize for you below.
RSO/Phoenix Tears Dosage Instructions
It can take weeks to get used to the intense effects from an RSO, so whether you do oral ingestion or topical absorption dosers need to be expertly careful during their initial doses of this powerful cannabis oil.
The goal for all RSO users is to get themselves to the point of being able to consume 1 gram / 1 ml of Rick Simpson oil per day. For those with lower tolerances to THC, this can seem like an impossibly lofty undertaking – for others who regularly dose cannabis in the 250-500 mg ranges, it’s not so far off. Regardless of where you sit on the tolerance spectrum, it can take weeks of practice dosing to get yourself to the point where 1 gram/ml of RSO doesn’t completely rocket your brain into space.
Fortunately, Rick Simpson himself has set out a natural progression of dosing in order to build up to the ideal 1 gram/ml range per day. Here is a summary of his instructions:
Each Rick Simpson Oil / Phoenix Tear treatment package contains around 60 grams or 60 ml of high-potency concentrate. It take the average person 60-90 days to consume all of the treatment, including 15-30 days of experimenting with their tolerance.
Mr. Simpson recommends starting with 3 doses per day. Beginners should try a dose the size of a grain of rice, or half that size if this is too intense at first.
Every 3-4 days, patients should try to double their dosage sizes but continue to ingest/absorb it 3 times per day. Steadily increasing doses in this 3-4 day routine can help patients to avoid becoming overwhelmed by psychoactivity.
Some patients can increase their doses more quickly than others. It is advised to increase dose sizes as fits a person’s comfort/tolerance. Some people can handle greater quantities of cannabinoids than others, so progress at your own pace.
The average person can reach the 1 gram/ml ideal dose range within 21-35 days. Every person is unique in their relationship to cannabis, so don’t rush or slow down your progress with RSO’s if you’re outside these normative ranges.
Final dosing ranges are around 8-10 drops per dose, three times a day – once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. Each drop is roughly two of the ‘grain of rice’ introductory doses, so this means you’ll be aiming to ingest/absorb 16-20 grain of rice sized doses three times per day. This might seem like a lot at first, but within a month of practicing this dosing method Rick Simpson is confident you’ll find yourself accustomed to the oil’s effects.
Unfortunately for cannabis advocates, the Rick Simpson story doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending. In 2009 Mr. Simpson had his properties raided by the RCMP, leading to the loss of thousands of plants, products and items of essential property that Rick had used to improve so many Canadian lives. Because of the hotbed political landscape at the time surrounding cannabis legality, Rick Simpson – one of the ‘potfathers’ most closely associated with modern marijuana in Canada – was forced to flee the country and has lived in eastern Europe ever since.
Rick has continued to be involved with the cannabis community around the globe, his publications online as well as his involvement in spreading the usage of RSO is commendable to say the least. Despite his legal troubles in his own country, Mr. Simpson continued to fight for cannabis rights. However, a personal medical tragedy has since forced him to take a step back from leading the charge.
It is up to us, the cannabis community of the world – and in particular, Canadian cannabis advocates – to keep fighting for our rights to greater cannabis access as we strive to live the happiest, healthiest lives we can. Cannabis has consistently shown its aptitude for having positive influences on human health & wellbeing, so we need to keep defending this wondrous plant just like Mr. Simpson did & continues to do.
FAQ’s
What is the way to consume RSO?
Rick Simpson oil is usually ingested or dosed sublingually through an oral syringe, but it can also be applied topically for great results. As an extremely potent cannabis concentrate, RSO oil for pain is typically dosed only once per day because its effects can last for hours and hours. Keep in mind that because its extraction involves alcohol or other chemical agents, you can’t dab RSO or vape it like with other concentrates.
How much RSO should I take orally?
Learning how to use an RSO syringe means being very careful with your doses – Rick Simpson oil can be highly concentrated and therefore lead to intense psychoactive experiences. Starting with a lower dose and slowly increasing it in volume or frequency – as befits your needs – is always the best policy for finding the right dosage of cannabis concentrates or extracts.
Can you mix RSO in water?
RSO is an oil-based concentrate, so not only does the oil not mix with water, many cannabinoids such as THC or CBD are not traditionally water-soluble. Adding heat to the equation can help to bind some active phytocompounds into a tea, but this is usually done with raw plant materials, not refined cannabis concentrates like Rick Simpson oil.
What time of day should I take RSO?
Depending on your level of medical needs for cannabis, Rick Simpson oil can be taken throughout the day, for a variety of reasons. RSO oil for pain can be helpful all day, especially in the morning when chronic pain symptoms arise. RSO is also popular as a sleep aid for those suffering from serious bouts of insomnia, anxiety or depression. RSO can be dabbed, ingested, rubbed on or mixed into foods & drinks, just be aware of its high-potency which can lead to overwhelming psychoactivity if you’re not careful.