Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jul 2000
Source: MSNBC.com (US Web)
Copyright: 2000 MSNBC.com
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Author: Thomas Hayden, Newsweek Web Exclusive
Note: exclusive by Newsweek, on MSNBC's website.

FIGHTING THE DRUG WAR WITH BIO-WEAPONS

Are they safe? Do they work?

The drug fight may be entering it's next phase: bio warfare.
Yesterday, U.S. and Colombian officials acknowledged that they had
agreed to take a first step towards conducting what amounts to
controlled biological warfare against the coca crops that are the
source of Colombia's cocaine.

UNLIKE CHEMICAL HERBICIDES currently used in drug eradication
programs, the new scheme would use a disease-causing fungus called
Fusarium oxysporum, which infects targeted plants through their roots,
blocking their sap systems and causing the plants to wilt. Similar
"bio-control agents94 are being developed at several research centers
around the world for use against common agricultural weeds. Last year,
Florida briefly considered launching a fungal attack against marijuana
plants, but dropped the project in response to concerns raised by
environmentalists.

Scientists say bio-control agents offer significant advantages over
traditional chemical herbicides. Because the agents cause disease,
they can be targeted more specifically at only certain plants and
generally sparing birds, insects and other animals. Chemical sprays
often remain effective for a just a few days or weeks after they are
applied, but the fungus used for bio-control is a living organism. It
can form spores that lie dormant in the soil, ready to attack any new
drug crops for years or even decades.

But are bio-control weapons safe? Environmentalists worry that its
long life gives the fungus time to mutate, making it able to infect
plants other than its intended targets. "That's just science fiction,94
says David Sands, a plant pathologist who studies Fusarium at Montana
State University. "We don't see any switches in pathogenicity.94 So
many genetic changes would have to occur for a strain of the fungus to
switch from attacking cocoa plants to targeting food crops like
tomatoes, says Sands, that the chances of it happening are
"one-in-more-snowflakes than there are in the universe.94

An even larger question: Can the scheme actually work? Using fungal
disease to control unwanted plants has had only limited success since
serious attempts began in the early 1980s. In some cases, the fungal
herbicides have failed to become established in the targeted plants. A
natural epidemic of Fusarium which occurred in Peru in the 1980s did
wipe out some of the crop, but failed to spread throughout the growing
region. Even if scientists are able to develop an effective form of
fungus, narcotic planters in Colombia would be able to fight back by
applying chemical fungicides to combat the Fusarium, or with coca
plants bred to resist the disease.

Sands admits that developing effective agents can be tricky to do, but
says it's well worth the scientific effort. "The technology doesn92t
just get rid of noxious plants, it gets rid of dangerous chemicals,
too.94 Sands points to bio-control success in controlling witch weed in
Africa. Sands says he also believes the risks--which he says are
minimal--are worth the rewards: "Damage [from Colombia's cocaine
industry] is so large, how can we step away from a solution?94

Fusarium first attracted the attention of U.S. drug eradication
scientists in the 1980s, and the USDA conducted secret research into
using it against coca plants starting in 1988, according to the New
York Times. Soviet scientists at the same time were investigating
Fusarium, as well as other plant pathogens, as a biological weapon
against opium poppies. The Soviets thought that wiping out opium
production would undermine the finances of rebels fighting the Soviet
presence in Afghanistan as well as potentially eradicating the world
supply of morphine, which is derived from opium. Similar research
continues, now supported by the United Nations Drug Control Program
which is underwritten in part by the federal government.

The Colombian government reluctantly okayed partial support for the
bio-control project once the United States agreed to provide $1.3
billion in aid for fighting drug traffickers. So far, Colombian
officials have agreed in principle to study the fungus, but only forms
that occur naturally in Colombia. The first step is to determine
whether Fusarium already exists in Colombian coca crops. If it does,
discussions will begin on how best to apply the disease organism to
coca fields-and how to avoid the inevitable protests of environmental
groups.
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