COLOMBIA, U.N. TO RESEARCH USE OF FUNGUS TO DESTROY NARCOTICS

Washington - Colombia has agreed to work with a United Nations
agency on testing a naturally occurring fungus to determine whether it
can be used for widespread eradication of narcotics plants, the State
Department said Thursday.

A top Colombian official said no tests would be carried out on
Colombian territory out of concern over possible ecological damage.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the fungicide is
expected to be tested over a two-year period and then "it will be up
to the government of Colombia to evaluate the results and determine
the next steps."

The testing , funded by a $3 million U.S. contribution , would be
carried out by Colombian officials and the U.N. Drug Control Agency.

Colombia's environmental minister, Juan Mayr, clarifying published
reports about the issue, said in a statement: "The government of
Colombia, after consulting with experts on the matter, did not accept
the proposal for conducting tests of the fungus... because any agent
foreign to the native ecosystems of our country could present grave
risks to the environment and human health."

The statement was in a letter to the New York Times, which first
reported the planned tests in Thursday's edition.

Mayr was quoted by the Times as saying in an interview: "What we want
is a program of research -- and only research -- on the use of
biological controls against these crops."

Mayr claimed in his letter, a copy of which was circulated Thursday by
his office in Bogota, that his remarks had been misinterpreted.

Advocates say the fungus, known as fusarium oxysporum, could be the
answer in the long search for a means of reversing what has been a
steady growth in the production of coca leaf and opium poppy in Colombia.

Colombian drug cartels have been able to offset extensive chemical
spraying by opening up new areas for cultivating narcotics plants.

The proponents say a big advantage of the fungus is that it grows
naturally, is safe for the environment, and that decades must pass
before a treated area is suitable again for growing narcotics plants.

Agriculture Department tests have shown that the fungus will kill
narcotics plants without harming other plants or animal life,
advocates says.

"These micro-organisms have the potential to cripple drug crops before
they are even harvested," Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, has said.

Efforts to reach Colombian officials for comment were unsuccessful.