Date: Thu Jul 29 15:08:47 1999 From: LVNORML420@aol.com Subject: Fla. Eyes Marijuana-Killing Fungus
Fla. Eyes Marijuana-Killing Fungus
.c The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida may start testing a fungus that could kill marijuana plants in a move environmentalists say could backfire if the fungus mutates and attacks crops like tomatoes and corn.
Two state agencies have given approval for the tests to be conducted in a quarantine lab on the fungus Fusarium oxysporum, a bioherbicide designed to destroy plants like marijuana.
``I think we would be years away from using this,'' James McDonough, director of the state Office of Drug Control, said Tuesday.
McDonough said he hasn't made any recommendations to Gov. Jeb Bush about the idea of dusting suspected areas with the pot-eating fungus.
Environmentalists said they're concerned about fooling with Mother Nature.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs has warned that introducing the fungus into the wild could cause disease in crops, including tomatoes and corn.
Others are worried that the fungus could get out of control like the weed kudzu, a vine planted for soil stabilization that has grown like wild in South.
``We tend to manipulate the environment sometimes with these biological introductions,'' said David Gluckman, lobbyist for the Florida Wildlife Federation. ``We're paying the price for that now.''
AP-NY-07-28-99 0108EDT
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. .