By: Erin Sullivan
From: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
The bill passed with little fanfare in U.S. congress last fall. The only people to raise a ruckus over it were some anti-pesticide groups and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
But now that the time for its provisions to take affect is drawing nearer-March 1, to be exact- opponents of HR 4300 are trying hard to make their voices heard amid the din of the "War on drugs" battle cries.
HR 4300 is a bill that allots roughly $23 million for the development of soil-borne mycoherbicides that would kill crops used to produce marijuana, heroin and cocaine. The bill states that the Office of National Drug Control Policyshould work in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Defense and "other appropriate agencies" to develop a 10-year master plan for the use of the fungi in the U.S.A. and South America.
The foreign fungi would be introduced to the soil, where they would damage the root systems of host plants and cripple drug crops before they could be harvested. Bill sponsor Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) and his ally Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) called the use of myco herbicides a powerful weapon in the war against drugs.
The libertarian Party, however, issued a release last week that called the mycohebicides being developed by the federal government "the political equivalent of athletes foot fungus."
George Getz, press secretary for the party, said that although the federal government has insisted that the fungi will be harmless to other plants and animals, the plan could backfire.
Valuable cash crops such as tobacco and coffee beans, which have similiar chemical alkaloids to the ones that produce cocaine, could be wiped out. He also pointed out that the fungi could mutate or cause mutations in the poppy, cannibis and coca crops which could prove harmful to other native vegetation.
"Mr. McCollum, if its not so dangerous, why are not implanting it in Florida?" Getz asked, referring to the fact that the bill specifically targets the South American nations of Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, and Mexico as areas to test the fungi. "What we suspect they're doing with these foreign nations is using the carrot and stick-if you dont plant this fungus, were going to cut off your funding".
Allen St.Pierre, spokesman for NORML, said the proposed fungi could also pose dangerous to human health. He pointed out that the fungi could alter the chemical composition of the host plants to create toxic compounds. And he indicated that it would be impossible to keep track of drugs created from the toxic plants, because there is no government oversight of the illegal drug trade.
"In 1977 we sued the federal government to stop spraying (poisonous herbicides) on marijuana," St.Pierre said. "The principle was the same. Introducing these foreign chemicals and agents into the product is dangerous. We found out that (because drugs) are not regulated, they were still packaged and sold with the poisons. It wasnt untilchildren of well-to-do kids started taking it and getting sick that people started to say something about it."
But St.Pierre said that so far, very few organizations or agencies in the U.S. have spoken about the dangers of HR 4300.
"I can say that since we were the first organization to break news on this, we have received so many inquiries, not from people in the U.S., but from people all over the world," St.Pierre lamented.
"One proffessor in Australia e-mailed us and said he thought the U.S. germ warfare agreements with the UN would preclude them from using this in foreign nations."
However, he pointed out that most members of congress do not seem concerned about either the health dangers or potential illegalities of this bill-only 39 members of congress voted against the bill- and congress should expect to receive a progress report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy by March 1. St.Pierre said it doesnt surprise him a bit.
"Whenever you say anything about drugs in congress," he said, "Everybody jumps on board. Reefer madness is bipartisan."
Can you all believe this madness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
