Just as I knew would happen with medical cannabis...

[Archae]

Someone comes up with something that does deserve actual research, and the quacks fall out of the woodwork.

I see this also with stem cells.

Rick Simpson Cannabis Oil Cures Cancer Scammers

Rick SimpsonI received an email from S.B. who claims he was conned out of $1,080 by someone claiming to be a doctor selling authentic Rick Simpson hemp oil. [Amazon.com sells oil for a lot less, by the way.] S.B. says he agreed to stop all medical treatments (he doesn't say what he was being treated for) and sent some stranger the cash for a 3-month supply of oil. Instead of the cannabis, however, he got a bill for $2,000 from someone identifying himself as Geri Buckman (GB). He balked at the demand for more cash, but GB informed him that he risked death if he didn't get the oil, which is what happened (said GB) to one of his Swedish patients. For some reason, S.B. emailed me about this because he thought I could help him publicize the scam.

I Googled 'Geri Buckman' and third on the hit list was this: "Beware of e-mail address -... - Hemp Oil Cancer Scammers," which took me to a Facebook page devoted to hemp oil scammers. Apparently, there are some people out there who are preying on cancer patients looking for hemp oil. The demand for this product from cancer patients is due in large part to the marketing efforts of Rick Simpson, a completely unqualified deluded blowhard with a large following. Simpson claims that cannabis can cure just about anything, including cancer. The snakes in the grass have been quick, it seems, to seize on the opportunity to exploit desperate cancer patients with false claims about oil delivered right to your door. Adding the touch of claiming to be a doctor and advising the buyer to stop all medications adds a layer of maliciousness indicating just what kind of vipers you may be dealing with should you venture to search the Internet for your cannabinoid medicine. The vipers see Simpson adoration society members as easy marks deserving to be ripped off while suffering physically and psychologically as well as monetarily. These venomous thieves even post their false stories of cannabis cures on the Facebook page devoted to exposing the scammers! (Here's a link to the story that was at the top of the page on September 13, 2015. It's a testimonial from someone who claims he cured his liver cancer with cannabis. Note that the only comments on the testimonial page are from someone claiming he was "CURED OF HIV with the help of Dr.Boadi's Herbal Medicine." I wonder if he was cured of AIDS as well.)

Some of you may know that last year I announced that I was diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. I have received only two hate emails expressing hope that the cancer kills me soon. One was from someone who didn't like what I had to say about cannabis; specifically, he didn't appreciate my noting that the evidence that cannabis oil cures any kind of cancer has not yet been produced. The other was from someone who didn't like what I had to say about "natural cures."

May these jihadists for magical and wishful thinking live forever.

For more on what the data show for cannabis and cancer, see the SD entry for Rick Simpson. For more on the kinds of nonsense people believe will cure their cancer "naturally," see the SD entry on natural cancer cures. For a short description of the difference between pancreatic adenocarcinoma and pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, see Lauren's blog.

http://skepdic.com/news/newsletter1408.html

[HuckleB]

1. Recommended!

Take care, Archae.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. There's a lot of quacks and hucksters out there.

Cannabis seems to be a pretty wonderful plant without exaggerating its benefits.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Did you expect that cannabis had magical properties which would make it the only thing in history

not to be exploited by criminals and con artists?

[Archae]

4. Not at all.

I was just hoping the scammers would lay off on their own, since they have so many other forms of bullshit to sell.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. In what way are the scammers 'their own'?

People who defraud a group of people see that group of people as marks, not brothers. Still not following your thinking. 'Some guy sold bogus antibiotics to sick people at inflated prices, thus antibiotics are bad'.