MAGIC MUSHROOMS ENLISTED IN WAR ON DOPE

The biggest environmental hot potato in Britain is genetically
modified crops. But American politicians have fewer qualms. Drug
enforcement agents in Florida think they have the perfect solution for
eradicating marijuana crops in the state: dusting vast areas with a
genetically engineered fungus which would kill the illicit plants but
leave everything else unharmed.

With its "Day of the Triffids" connotations, the project is highly
controversial. But to the Florida Office of Drug Control it may offer
the best hope for thwarting growers who nurture marijuana in plots
that are often camouflaged to avoid aerial detection. Plants are
interspersed among other crops or even grown on rafts in swamps. About
100,000 plants are seized in Florida annually.

The plan's biggest champion is Jim McDonough, recently hired by
Governor Jeb Bush to combat the Florida drugs industry. He has won
permission to begin testing the fungus on a quarantined site outside
Gainesville. Deployment of the fungus has also attracted crucial
political support from a high-profile Florida congressman, Bill
McCollum, who has called it the "silver bullet" in the war against
marijuana cultivation.

Among those sounding the alarm about the potential risks, however, is
the head of the state's environmental protection agency, David Struhs.
In a recent letter to Mr McDonough he warned that the fungus could
spread and mutate todamage other plant life.

"Mutation of the organism would not only threaten Florida's natural
environment, but would also put at risk our economically vital
agricultural industry," he wrote. "I strongly recommend that Florida
not proceed further with this proposal."

Florida has a history of organic cures that are worse than the
disease. Huge sums are being spent on attacking the melaleuca tree,
introduced from Australia in the twenties to drain the Everglades. Now
the tree is everywhere and the state is trying to replenish waters in
the Everglades.

"The idea is shockingly dangerous," said The St Petersburg Times
recently, pointing out that much of the illegal marijuana crop is
grown indoors.