Fungus Eyed As Drug Crop Killer

Fungus Eyed As Drug Crop Killer

By George Gedda

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.

AP-NY-10-22-98 1436EDT