Pubdate: Oct 22, 1998
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: Associated Press.

FUNGUS EYED AS DRUG CROP KILLER

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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Checked-by: Rolf Ernst