Drug WarRant

Not only has Andrea Barthwell been touring Illinois misleading people about the facts about medical marijuana, she has also claiming that her Illinois Marijuana Lectures were sponsored by Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center (GLATTC), an organization that “promotes state-of-the-art addiction science” and is funded through federal taxpayer dollars (through SAMHSA) and partners with such agencies as the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Well, that sponsorship turned out not to be true, either.
You can understand her desire to have such a group associated with the lecture series — it appears to lend scientific credence to what she’s saying.
But I was curious as to the appropriateness of using federal tax dollars to lobby against a medical marijuana bill in the state legislature (particularly on the heels of recent GAO findings that the Drug Czar’s office had engaged in illegal public relations activities), so I did some checking.
GLATTC is administered by the Jane Addams School of Social Work, which is part of the University of Illinois, Chicago. Here’s the response I got from the University of Illinois Legal Counsel’s office.

“Thank you for your interest, Mr. Guither. Your inquiry has been passed to me for review. The Great Lakes ATTC’s name was used in connection
with the lectures without UIC’s permission, and the persons involved
with the lectures have been so notified.”
[Note: I have not included here the name of the University Counsel or others I contacted at GLATTC, UIC, or elsewhere, because I didn’t think it was necessary. Quite frankly, the University is the one who was wronged here (along with the public), and they were quite forthcoming and prompt in responding to my inquiries. If there are members of the press who need a name to verify this information, please feel free to contact me directly.]

Now, before you say, “Oh, so she mistakenly added an extra name to her list of sponsors on her web site – that could be an honest mistake.”
No. In fact, other than Andrea Barthwell and Judy Kreamer (the lecture presenters) there’s only one co-sponsor: GLATTC. Check out the screen shot of the sponsor page (the web page itself should have GLATTC removed, but as of the time of this posting it had not).

And on the brochure/flyer: Note how GLATTC is shown as the sponsor both in text and in logo, and right near the text that talks about how the Illinois Marijuana Lectures is including lobbying efforts.

• Download the flyer at IllinoisMarijuanaLectures.com (pdf)
• If the first one has been corrected, you can download the original version of the flyer here (pdf)

A history of deception
Andrea Barthwell is a former Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where her job was to oppose medical marijuana, regardless of the facts. The function of the ONDCP as charged by Congress was one of propaganda. In fact, the GAO said as much (pdf) in a reply to Representative Ron Paul who was complaining about incorrect information being disseminated by another Deputy Director:

“… while the Deputy Director’s statements pertaining to marijuana may be disputed by some with different viewpoints, they were made within the context of ONDCP’s statutory responsibilities, which include taking such actions as necessary to oppose efforts to legalize certain controlled substances such as marijuana. … Given this role, we do not see a need to examine the accuracy of the Deputy Director’s individual statements in detail.”

In other words, the ONDCP’s purpose includes lying. Not a good background for the credibility of Dr. Barthwell.
Clearly, I’m not the only one appalled by Dr. Barthwell’s deceptions. Today’s Sun Times has a letter from Representative Larry McKeon, sponsor of the Illinois medical marijuana bill.

As a legislator, I am used to political disagreements, and I enjoy a
healthy debate. But when a former White House official crisscrosses
our state, deliberately spreading misinformation about a proposal to
protect some of our most vulnerable citizens, that’s where I draw the
line. …

I welcome an honest debate about my medical marijuana bill, but let’s
base that debate on facts, not spin. Illinoisans deserve better than
Andrea Barthwell’s travelling con job.

And that’s what it is, folks — Andrea Barthwell’s travelling con job.
Representative McKeon also noted that Dr. Barthwell used “cruel hoax” to refer to medical marijuana. This is a phrase she uses all the time, and yet she is the one who is pushing the cruel hoax: by denying the tons of data supporting the medical benefits of marijuana, and trying to prevent sick and dying patients from following the recommendations of their doctor. And if that wasn’t cruel enough, she wants those sick people put in jail for daring to want to relieve their pain or nausea.
In addition to lying about the evidence regarding the efficacy of medical marijuana, Andrea Barthwell adds further deceptions about marijuana and its use. One of her favorite claims is that today’s pot is so much more potent it’s creating problems of addiction and dependency.

“She is just not living in the real world on this issue,” [Bruce Mirken of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project said].æ “A lot of things she talks about are blatantly not true, especially when it comes to medical marijuana.æ There is precisely zero medical evidence that higher THC levels in marijuana causes more dependence.æ As far as potency goes, there is an average of 7 percent THC potency in medical marijuana in the United States.æ That’s less than half the minimum potency standards set by the government in the Netherlands for medical marijuana sold in pharmacies in the Netherlands.”

She also talks about higher levels of youth in treatment for marijuana and infers that this is an indication of marijuana dangers — something the government’s own numbers refute.
Unfortunately, Andrea Barthwell is often assumed to be a qualified expert due to her medical background and her background in government service. Certainly, she is entitled to give her opinion. But it should be clear by now that she cannot be considered credible or an expert in this subject.
I hope that we’ll be able to have a good discussion of medical marijuana in the Illinois legislature this year — without the distraction of Andrea Barthwell’s travelling con job.
Updates:

1. Monday afternoon: Andrea finally removed the GLATTC logo from the sponsor page (although it’s still on the downloadable flyer, which is unacceptable). She’s also added a Take Action page. (It had always been clear that the Illinois Marijuana Lectures were a thinly disguised lobbying effort against medical marijuana — now even that thin disguise has been removed.
2. Excellent OpEd in today’s Chicago Tribune: Fighting for your life shouldn’t be a crime by Montel Williams.
   

   You may know me as a television talk-show host, but I am also a criminal. My crime? Using the medicine that has allowed me to live a normal life despite having multiple sclerosis.

3. I’ll be at the hearing on Thursday. Come and join me! Hearing info: Human Services Committee Hearing Feb 17 2005 8:00 AM Stratton Building Room D-1 Springfield, IL. If you’re interested in attending, drop me a note and I’ll give you a few tips.

Tommy Chong in an AP story today:

Chong said he isn’t ashamed of introducing millions of Vietnam-era kids to marijuana. “When you think of how many kids died drinking alcohol, I feel I’ve saved millions of lives,” he said.

An article worth reading in the Economist: Battles won, a war still lost:

At the last count by the United Nations, in 2003, land under coca in Colombia was down to 86,300 hectares (213,200 acres) from a peak of 163,300 hectares in 2000. In 2004, contractors working for the United States sprayed herbicide on 136,555 hectares of coca, a similar amount to the previous year. That points to a further decline in cocaine production last year, according to John Walters, who heads the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

In 2004, almost 150 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the country, a third more than in 2003, while 1,900 cocaine labs were destroyed, 40% more than in 2002. Mr Uribe has extradited 166 Colombians to face drug charges — and probably a life behind bars — in the United States. They include Gilberto Rodrâguez Orejuela, who as head of the Cali drug mob ruled the trade a decade ago. American officials say that they have squeezed the drug revenues of the FARC guerrillas and their right-wing opponents, the AUC. “We’re moving in one direction. The bad guys are losing and the people in Colombia are winning,” says Mr Walters. Those who see it otherwise “want this thing to fail”.

Yet to many people across and beyond Latin America, the Andean drug trade seems as effective and dangerous as ever. The most telling evidence is the price of cocaine. According to the Washington Office on Latin America, an NGO, the ONDCP’s own figures, released to Congress but not yet to the public, show that in the United States a gram of cocaine wholesaled for $38 in 2003, down from $48 in 2000 and from $100 in 1986, with no fall in purity.

It’s really quite simple. It doesn’t work. In the past, I’ve compared eradication efforts there to this child’s game, and this cartoon fairly accurately depicts interdiction efforts.
Yet we continue to pour money down this black hole and help ruin the lives of Latin American citizens.

I had to temporarily suppress all humility to post this one, but I couldn’t resist. It’s such a wonderful post from Christopher Filkins that means a lot to me, and I wanted to share it:

I’ve been reading Salon Blogs since, well, when they started (or at least publicly available) me thinks. There are some great writers & journalists round these parts, far far better than I; this piddly thing. Anyway the best so far is Pete Guither’s Drug War Rant. Pete has a knack for cutting right through the drug war misinformation and slight of hand. His reports are stoic in the face of horrible stories, facts, and circumstances of this most odious of travesties the pundits call the drug wars. Salon (or some other organ) would be well served by hiring his ass.

I’d love to see more attention paid to this issue. Josh Marshall, I’m talking to you. How come the drug war is never ever ever ever ever questioned in polite company in the media? It’s so fucking frustrating.

[ed. note. I don’t mean to infer that Mr. Marshall writes in polite company. ]

[ed. note. err, or that Mr. Guither’s writing is written among the impolite. ]

Yes, it is frustrating.
Mr. Filkins then goes on to provide a good suggestion over at Radio Free Blogistan:

With all of this new found interest in online “journalists” such as Jeff Gannon getting access to the White House briefings I hope we’ll soon see more folks with access to the White House. …

…Wouldn’t it be nice to see Pete Guither grilling Bush on the drug war. God knows I’d like to drill him on gay marriage.

Someone, anyone, pay for this poor hack to fly to Washington. I work cheap. Don’t even need an entourage or a ticket to ride.

I’m with you. Day passes to the White House briefings are fine with me. Got my list of questions handy. Just need to pick a pseudonym.

“bullet” Via Last One Speaks, comes this fascinating and delightful piece by Dana Larsen: What’s In Popeye’s Pipe?

The evidence is circumstantial, but it is there, and when added together it presents a compelling picture that, for many readers at least, Popeye’s strength-giving spinach is meant as a clear metaphor for the miraculous powers of marijuana.

“bullet” Radley Balko talks about rights and gets some scary email.
“bullet” Robert Sharpe comes out with one of his usual outstanding letters, this time on heroin treatment (making the same points I did earlier). And he has a great tag line:

Putting public health before politics may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message.

The Illinois Medical Marijuana bill will have an initial hearing in the Human Services Committee on Thursday, Februaryæ17 at 8:00 a.m. in Springfield. I plan to be there and am hoping to bring others. It should be fascinating.
In the meantime, if you live in Illinois, check out this Action Alert from NORML and contact your state representative. If you have friends or relatives in Illinois, have them contact their representatives. It’s easy.

When I saw this headline:

I thought… “Finally, somebody’s got their act together and they’re not going to put up with the administration increasing the federal drug budget by $268 million at a time when we should be slashing it dramatically.”
But no.

…but lawmakers from both parties criticized its proposed budget that would cut several anti-drug programs.

Give me a break. And they’re talking about programs that even the big-drug-war-spending Bush adminstration says don’t work.
The idiots in this particular story:

• Mark Souder, (R-Indiana)
Elijah Cummings, (D-Maryland)

If they’re your rep, let them know how you feel.
Of course, Drug Czar Walters tried to make them feel better by saying that the administration was increasing funding in many areas, including a 15 percent boost in funds for drugs testing in schools.
Wanker.

Cannabis-munching cows to get change of diet in Alpine state

Farmers in Liechtenstein æwill no longer be allowed to feed cannabis to their livestock under new rules to be introduced in March in the tiny Alpine state.

Hemp — of which the marijuana plant is a well-known variety — contains small amounts of THC, the active substance in hashish, and traces of the drug have been filtering through to the milk of dairy cows fed with the plant.

The levels breach the maximum limit set by the new rules, which say that animal feed must be free of any component that could have an adverse effect on humans, the country’s veterinary and food controls office said in a statement.

A disturbing look at the immediate future of the privacy of our bodily fluids in Paul Armentano’s column at Reason.

The purpose of this symposium — and the intent of the bodily fluid snoopers in attendance — was to call for an unprecedented, government-mandated expansion of both drug testing and the application of new drug screening technology — and not just for those within the workplace. And the pee police may be close to getting their wish….

According to its website, DATIA is “a 1,200-member national trade association representing the full spectrum of alcohol and drug testing service agents, including laboratories, collection sites, … and [drug] testing device manufacturers.” In layman’s terms, it’s the lobbying arm for the drug testing industry.

I’ve known for years that the drug testing industry was wielding political pressure — now they’re being up front abou the lobbying. This is an industry that will push until they are drug testing every employee, and every student, and every driver that’s stopped on the highway.
And right now, the government (through the ONDCP) is facilitating their profits.

The expected response to the petition by Americans for Safe Access has come… (thanks to atg in comments)

RE: Request for Correction of Infomlation Submitted by HHS Regarding the Medical Use of Marijuana

Dear Mr. Elford:

Your October 4, 2004, request for correction of information disseminated by the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the medical use of marijuana is still under review. While the goal of the Food and Drug Administration is to respond within 60 days to such requests, we are unable to do so in this case. We anticipate that a response will be forwarded to you by April 1, 2005.

You can see all of HHS’s responses to Data Quality Act petitions here. Some of them have stretched on over a year. The whole 60 days rule seems to have more limited teeth than I first thought, since HHS can simply award itself multiple extensions. However, they still have to respond to political pressure, and eventually they’ll have to answer. At which point, an appeal can be made, etc., etc.
In the meantime, the DEA continues to block re-scheduling efforts and the FDA continues to block research.
An entire bureaucracy just to obstruct, divert, and deny the truth.