Don't Let Congress Poison People
From the DPA: Quote: Congress is considering a drug war idea so bad that even Drug Czar John Walters is against it. The House has authorized, and the Senate is considering, a proposal to revive research on the use of toxic, mold-like fungi called mycoherbicides to kill drug crops in other countries.
Tell Congress it's a bad idea!
Mycoherbicides have already been extensively studied over the last thirty years - and the results make it clear that they are not an option for controlling crops of coca or opium poppies. They attack indiscriminately, destroying fruit and vegetable crops, causing open sores and feminization in reptiles and other animals, and sickening humans as well. The toxins mycoherbicides produce contaminate soil for years, so that nothing can grow where they have been. Mycoherbicides are so destructive that governments have even stockpiled them as weapons!
Drug warriors use ecocides & herbicide 15 Jul, 2005
Kill the earth, kill the plants, kill the people
Genetically modified pot-killing fungus 19 Jun, 1999
US and UN scientists are building biological weapons to wipe-out pot, poppies and coca.
Killer fungi 01 May, 1999
US and UN scientists are building biological weapons to wipe-out pot, poppies and coca.
EU Scientists Legalize Controversial Herbicide
Poison Pot
FLA: Introduced /Fusarium/ plan
Marijuana-Eating Fungus Seen as Potent Weapon, but at What Cost?
South Dakota Bans Nearly ALL Abortions?
Killer Fungus Touted to Eradicate State Pot Crop! By Julie Hauserman
Source: St. Petersburg Times July 17, 1999
Florida Drug Czar Wants To Use Fungus On Marijuana Crops.
Scientists Fear It Could Attack Other Plants. Would-Be Hemp Farmers In Other States Should Sue To Stop This Biological Warfare.
Bush Backs a Promotion for Florida's Drug Czar
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. [Who will police the police?]"
- Latin proverb
Montana NORML Receives Documents on Anti-Drug Fungus Research 8/27/99
The Montana chapter of NORML last Wednesday (8/19) received more than 150 documents from Montana State University at Bozeman related to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded research project at the school that is developing mycoherbicides, or fungi, to kill marijuana and poppy plants. MSU released the documents after Montana NORML filed suit against the school under the state constitution's right-to-know clause.
Killing Cannabis with mycoherbicides
The importation of foreign fungi into new habitats is fraught with controversy. Once a self-perpetuating fungus has been released, it is impossible to recall or control (Lockwood 1993). Despite host-range testing to identify potential nontarget hosts, exotic fungi can spread from their intended targets to other plants. The entire flora of a continent may ultimately be exposed, especially if the fungus produces wind-borne spores (Auld 1991). Because of this concern, only two exotic fungi have ever been intentionally imported into North America—Puccinia chondrillina and Puccinia carduorum.
Fear of "collateral damage" to nontarget plants is justified. (Helianthus annuus) and Calendula officinalis (Auld 1991). Native fungi sold as mycoherbicides may also spread to new hosts after release. (TeBeest 1988).
Introduction
The U.S. Congress recently appropriated $23 million dollars to fund a "new solution" for the war on drugs. The new solution attacks drugs at their source — the drug plants. Researchers say they can eliminate drug plants with fungal pathogens. The fungi would be genetically engineered to kill only coca plants (Erythroxylon sp.), opium poppies (Papaver sp.), and marijuana (Cannabis sp.).
Rep. Bill McCollum, who introduced the appropriation bill, described the tactic as "a silver bullet in the drug war" (Fields 1998). The development of transgenic coca and opium pathogens began several years ago, but previous appropriations were relatively small (the 1998 budget was $2.58 million). This year McCollum expanded the program to include marijuana, and moved the budget’s decimal point to the right.
Figure 1. Healthy marijuana seedling (C) flanked by plants exposed to pathogenic fungi (P.g. and M.p.).
Hemp Tied Down By Stupid Laws
Source: Minnesota Daily April 11, 2006 Editorial**
Minnesota -- Hemp was the plant of choice for the founding fathers of our nation. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson often praised the plant in their writings and tried to persuade others to grow it as a cash crop. Nonetheless since the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, this has not been a possibility for citizens of the United States. A new University study, however, could pave the way to change that.
TED Case Studies
Hemp Case (HEMP)
Changing the law could impact the environment in the US because hemp could revolutionize the paper industry and reduce deforestation, and because hemp production requires the use of far fewer pesticides than the fibers it could replace.
Hemp can also be grown without the pesticides that are necessary for cultivation of other textiles and paper products, such as cotton which requires large amounts of pesticides and today is the most polluting of all agricultural industries. Cotton production, in fact, accounts for half the pesticide use in the US, and that product is one of the major products for which hemp could be substituted.
Cannabis Hemp: The Invisible Prohibition Revealed
Switching cotton fields to hemp fields would improve: the quality of our soil, the durability of our clothes, the safety of our ground source water, the quality of our air, and the preservation of forests cut for paper (not to mention saving hundreds of thousands of lives prematurely ended by disease caused by pollution) In 1993, two hundred and fifty thousand tons of pesticides were used to grow cotton world-wide.
These pesticides wash into streams and rivers, destroying eco-systems and poisoning human water supplies. Today the water supplies of many large cities are contaminated. Many of the vegetables we eat and clothes we wear contain pesticide residues. We must develop and utilize sustainable technologies if we want to survive and prosper in the next millenium. Hemp is a perfect sustainable raw material for thousands of products. Textiles, cosmetics, building materials, fuel and food can all be made from hemp.
Research Updates: Toxics and Health
Pesticide Exposure in Farm Families Linked to Spontaneous Abortion
The timing and types of pesticide exposures are critical determinants of reproductive outcomes, according to a recently published study by Canadian researchers. The study examined pesticide exposures based on recall by farm families and reported histories of spontaneous abortions among women living on the farms. The study found strong evidence that a woman’s exposure to pesticides in the three months prior to conception or in the month of conception significantly increased her risk of spontaneous abortion.
Preconception exposure to the pesticides glyphosate, atrazine, carbaryl, and 2,4-D increased relative risk of spontaneous abortion by 20-40%. Risks were even higher for women exposed to pesticides at age 35 or older and for women exposed to pesticide mixtures. For example, older women exposed to both triazines and thiocarbamates before conception had a nearly 8- fold increase in risk of spontaneous abortion over women exposed to triazines only. The authors urge that additional research be conducted to assess reproductive effects of other chemicals and mixtures, and to investigate the role of maternal age on chemical toxicity.
Arbuckle, TE, et al. "An Exploratory Analysis of the Effect of Pesticide Exposure on the Risk of Spontaneous Abortion in an Ontario Farm Population." Environmental Health Perspectives 109(8): 851-857 (2001).