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EXPERT RAILS AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA

MOUNT VERNON -- About a dozen people, some of them in education or counseling, turned out in Mount Vernon Wednesday to hear Dr.  Andrea Barthwell talk about the need to take marijuana seriously. 

Barthwell has embarked on a lecture series presenting the dangers of marijuana use -- particularly in the face of Illinois House Bill 407, which would create the Illinois Medical Cannabis Act.  Barthwell is the former deputy director for Demand Reduction from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy -- otherwise known as the deputy drug czar. 

The Illinois Medical Cannabis Act, sponsored by Rep.  Larry McKeon, D-Chicago, would allow a person diagnosed with what the bill describes as a "debilitating medical condition" to be a card-carrying legal cannabis user.  The sick person and that person's primary caregiver would be allowed to own up to 12 cannabis plants and two and a half ounces of "usable cannabis."

Barthwell said her "Illinois Marijuana Lectures" are not specifically in response to the bill, which was filed Jan.  26 and sent to the Human Services Committee on Feb.  2.  Judy Kreamer, president of Educating Voices and Barthwell's tour-mate, said she had asked Barthwell to present these lectures as part of the organization's overall mission to keep children from using drugs. 

However, much of Barthwell's 90-minute presentation focused on the issue of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.  Kreamer said she hoped those in attendance would "do a training session" or "write about this" after hearing the program. 

Barthwell stressed that legalizing marijuana for medical purposes by popular vote would subvert the Food and Drug Administration approval process. 

"We'll be going back to the days of snake-oil medicine," she said. 

Barthwell said perception causes a serious dilemma when it comes to marijuana.  She said many people who are responsible adults in today's society remember a time when marijuana use was fairly common, and something that was generally left behind as people matured.  In fact, she said, many people, including parents, believe that marijuana use is relatively harmless. 

However, Barthwell said the negative side-effects of marijuana use on health -- including an increased risk of lung cancer -- are part of an equation that should raise concern.  The other part of the equation relates specifically to school-age children. 

Barthwell said the THC level -- the chemical in cannabis that produces the high -- has increased as marijuana producers have learned more about manipulating plant growth.  She said in the '60's and '70's, the THC level was about 1 percent.  Now it averages about 7 percent, she said, up to 17 percent, with "BC bud" from Canada showing a potency of up to 30 percent THC level. 

Barthwell said the "initiation age" of users is 9 to 11 years old.  She said the increased potency of cannabis combined with the lower average age of first-time users is equivalent to gulping whiskey on an empty stomach as opposed to nursing a beer over a period of hours. 

She said legalizing marijuana for any reason, even medicinal reasons, would make the substance more available to minors. 

Barthwell said the Illinois Medical Cannabis Act is a cover for the broader agenda of general legalization of marijuana. 

"Another agenda being worked here is using our compassion for the sick and dying," she said, referring medical proponents testimony about the drug's beneficial effects on those with cancer or glaucoma. 

"It is not a medicine," she said.  "You don't know what's in it," she said.  She said the variable level of THC in marijuana plants depending upon variety and growing methods makes it nearly impossible to prescribe a particular dosage. 

Barthwell urged those in attendance to "let Springfield know how people feel about ( marijuana use and legalization )."

In an interview after the presentation, Barthwell said nine of 10 marijuana users do not become addicted to the drug -- but those non-dependent users tend to be the ones who recruit new users.  She said those who introduce drug use to their peer groups usually do so after they have had a "novel and pleasant experience" -- not after they have become entwined in a downward spiral of drug addiction. 

Matthew Atwood, Illinois Drug Education and Legislative Reform Executive Director, said Barthwell's lectures are filled with "disingenuous arguments."

"I don't think she has the research to back up her arguments," Atwood said.  "She refuses to back up her claims with citations, and she continues to drive around the state with her disingenuous claims."

Barthwell said she will have her research citations available online within "a couple of weeks."

Atwood said protecting children from abusing legal drugs is a responsibility of families and of those to whom the drugs are prescribed.  He said cannabis would be in the same category. 

Since marijuana is, in at least some cases, beneficial for treating symptoms, Atwood said a patient would not necessarily need an exact prescription, but could "use as much as they need." He added that medical research of marijuana has been blocked by the very organizations that claim more research is needed. 

The Illinois Medical Cannabis Act is scheduled for a hearing before the Human Services Committee on Feb.  17. 

Barthwell was reported to have considered a run for the U.S.  Senate representing Illinois when she stepped down as her deputy drug czar.  She said at present she has no political ambition, but, in the face of the political nature of the legalization question, she would "seriously consider" resuming her political career "if duty called."