MSU CONFIRMS RESEARCH ON ANTI-MARIJUANA FUNGUS

Montana State University has acknowledged that it conducted research on a
fungus that destroys marijuana plants, but says the project ended last year
when money ran out.

The fungus fusarium oxysporum causes wilt and other problems in various
crops and has drawn attention from national and state governments
interested in eradicating illicit drug crops, especially marijuana, coca
and opium poppies. The confirmation came in response to an open-records
lawsuit filed by the Montana chapter of the National Organization to Reform
Marijuana Laws and chapter Director John Masterson of Missoula.

The suit was filed after MSU initially refused to release information about
the research, contending all documents related to the project were
considered proprietary information and contained trade secrets.

A suit asking a district judge to make public all fusarium research
documents was filed here Aug. 6. MSU's response was filed last week.

In the three-page answer to the lawsuit, MSU attorney Leslie Taylor said
the school has worked with fusarium, including a greenhouse experiment in
Missoula in the 1980s. That experiment was conducted in cooperation with
the Missoula County sheriff's office and the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration.

However, Taylor said the research ended last December when funding ran out.

MSU also claims that since initially denying information to Masterson, the
university received permission from the federal government to release some
information and did so.

"We've gotten some good information, but I think there's more we need to
know about what they're doing," Masterson said. He said NORML believes the
research is continuing.

A proposal to use the soil-borne fungus in Florida to eradicate marijuana
caused a controversy between state officials and environmentalists, who
worried that the fungus might mutate and attack crops like tomatoes and corn.

The fungus that Florida would have used was partially developed by
researchers at MSU.

In addition to the fusarium that cripples marijuana, MSU scientists have
reportedly worked with a strain of fusarium that goes after coca plants.

Masterson said he and the organization became alarmed at the potential uses
of fusarium.

"We were very concerned that the zealotry and lunacy associated with the
drug war could be driving us to a point where we might be using a
potentially dangerous fungus on American soil," Masterson told the
Missoulian. "It seemed like a nightmare waiting to happen."