Rep. McKeon Challenges Medical Marijuana Opponent to Debate
Ex-White House Official's "Marijuana Disinformation Tour" Comes to Alton, Belleville, Mt. Vernon
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS—State Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago), sponsor of a medical marijuana bill in the Illinois legislature, today challenged former White House official Andrea Barthwell to debate the issue face-to-face. The legislator charged Barthwell with spreading misinformation in her "Illinois Marijuana Lectures," which come to Alton, Belleville and Mt. Vernon this week.
"Barthwell is spreading so many falsehoods that this begins to look like a 'marijuana disinformation tour,'" McKeon said. "She regularly claims that medical marijuana is a 'hoax' foisted upon us by some cabal of 'legalizers' who are exploiting patients. As a person living with AIDS, who has spent a lot of time discussing this issue with doctors, nurses and fellow patients, I know that's false, and I am personally insulted by this smear campaign. I am proud to stand with the Illinois Nurses Association, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the dozens of other medical and public health organizations supporting legal protection for medical marijuana patients. If Andrea Barthwell really believes what she's saying, let's debate. I will meet her anywhere, anytime."
McKeon and other supporters of the legislation noted Barthwell's long history of making false statements. For example, in a Feb. 17, 2004 Chicago Tribune column, she called marijuana so dangerous "that sensible physicians and researchers consider it unethical to expose individuals to the risks associated with smoking it." In fact, both the American Public Health Association and American Nurses Association have noted marijuana's "wide margin of safety" in official position papers supporting medical access. In the same column, Barthwell touted Marinol (the prescription pill containing THC, marijuana's main psychoactive component), claiming, "the only property that Marinol lacks is the capacity to create a 'high.'" In reality, the FDA-approved package insert for Marinol lists "a cannabinoid dose-related 'high'" as the most common side effect. Marinol also lacks the over 60 other unique compounds, called cannabinoids, that contribute to marijuana's therapeutic benefits.
The medical marijuana bill, HB 0407, has been referred to the House Human Services Committee.
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