- Note - A number of scientists and environmentalists
are more than concerned about this. They point out there are no guarantees
the new fungus will remain within one species of vegetation. There are
fears that it could spread to other plant species quickly...with disasterous
results.
-
- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government researchers are testing a fungus they believe
will kill narcotics plants without harming other crops or animal life,
a potential breakthrough aimed at cutting foreign production of illegal
drugs headed for the United States.
-
- Congress has approved $23 million for
further research into what are known as "mycoherbicides," soil-borne
fungi capable of eradicating plants that provide the raw material for cocaine,
heroin and marijuana.
-
- The Clinton administration is far from
unanimous about the innovation. Skeptics say more testing must be done
to prove the effectiveness and safety of the technology and winning the
support of governments of drug- producing South American countries -- Colombia,
Peru and Bolivia -- won't be easy. None has been briefed extensively, and
none has taken a public position.
-
- The administration will get to sound
out Colombian President Andres Pastrana next week when he comes on a state
visit to Washington. The three South American countries are the only ones
anywhere that produce the base plant for cocaine.
-
- The legislation was guided through Congress
by Sen. Mike DeWine, R- Ohio, and Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla. In addition
to mycoherbicide research, the legislation provides for promotion of alternative
crops to narcotics plants for South American farmers.
-
- "These micro-organisms have the
potential to cripple drug crops before they are even harvested," DeWine
said.
-
- McCollum said the new crop eradication
technology is much safer than traditional strategies. "All of the
indications are that this has the potential for making a big difference
in the drug war," he said. "This could be the silver bullet."
-
- House Foreign Relations Committee chairman
Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., said the technology is "extremely effective,
not costly, doesn't affect the environment and is a good way of eradicating
coca."
-
- The United States has spent billions
of dollars over the years with little success in trying the slay the drug
dragon. The "just say no" campaign of the 1980s has been followed
up by a government-sponsored media ad blitz warning people of the dangers
of drugs. Chemical sprays and interdiction efforts have been used to cut
supply. Still, an estimated 6.7 million addicts live in the country, and
experts estimate that 13 million Americans have used drugs in the last
month.
-
- U.S. officials believe South American
countries can be persuaded to go along with the program only if farmers
have plausible alternatives to narcotics plants. As one promising alternative,
officials are touting chocolate, derived from cacao trees, because it is
a suitable alternative for South American small farmers and the global
market in the coming years is expected to be tight.
-
- Experiments by Agriculture Department
scientists focus on isolating the mycoherbicides that narcotics plants
produce naturally. If, for example, a coca plant is doused with the fungi,
it wilts, and decades must pass before the area is again suitable for growing
coca. In addition, beans, corn or other crops grown nearby are unaffected.
Environmental Protection Agency scientists believe no harm would come to
humans or animals as well. The same technologies can be applied to eradicate
plants used for marijuana and heroin.
-
- Advocates and skeptics agree that the
program will go nowhere without the support of the drug-producing countries.
-
- Unless the political groundwork is properly
laid, farmers' unions or environmental groups in the coca-growing countries
could come out in opposition, nullifying the possibility of cooperation,
officials say. They also are bracing themselves for allegations that Washington
is planning biological warfare against these countries.
-
- The costs of drug addiction are obvious:
14,218 drug-related deaths in 1995, and the price to society each year
is $67 billion, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
President Clinton has set a goal of a 50 percent decrease in drug addiction
in 10 years, but advocates of the new crop eradication technologies believe
that goal is too modest.
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