RESEARCHERS TESTING FUNGUS IN BATTLE AGAINST NARCOTICS

WASHINGTON - Government researchers are testing a fungus they believe will
kill narcotics plants without harming other crops or animal life, a
potential breakthrough aimed at cutting foreign production of illegal drugs
headed for the United States.

Congress has approved $23 million for further research into what are known
as "mycoherbicides," soil-borne fungi capable of eradicating plants that
provide the raw material for cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

The Clinton administration is far from unanimous about the innovation.
Skeptics say more testing must be done to prove the effectiveness and
safety of the technology, and winning the support of governments of
drug-producing South American countries - Colombia, Peru and Bolivia -
won't be easy. None has been briefed extensively, and none has taken a
public position.

The administration will get to sound out Colombian President Andres
Pastrana next week when he comes on a state visit to Washington. The three
South American countries are the only ones anywhere that produce the base
plant for cocaine.

The legislation was guided through Congress by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio,
and Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla. In addition to mycoherbicide research, the
legislation provides for promotion of alternative crops to narcotics plants
for South American farmers.

"These micro-organisms have the potential to cripple drug crops before they
are even harvested," Mr. DeWine said.

Mr. McCollum said the new crop-eradication technology is much safer than
traditional strategies. "All of the indications are that this has the
potential for making a big difference in the drug war," he said. "This
could be the silver bullet."

House Foreign Relations Committee chairman Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., said
the technology is "extremely effective, not costly, doesn't affect the
environment and is a good way of eradicating coca."

The United States has spent billions of dollars over the years with little
success in trying to slay the drug dragon. The "just say no" campaign of
the 1980s has been followed up by a government-sponsored media ad blitz
warning people of the dangers of drugs. Chemical sprays and interdiction
efforts have been used to cut supply. Still, an estimated 6.7 million
addicts live in the country, and experts estimate that 13 million Americans
have used drugs in the last month.

U.S. officials believe South American countries can be persuaded to go
along with the program only if farmers have plausible alternatives to
narcotics plants. As one promising alternative, officials are touting
chocolate, derived from cacao trees, because it is a suitable alternative
for South American small farmers and the global market in the coming years
is expected to be tight.

Experiments by Agriculture Department scientists focus on isolating the
mycoherbicides that narcotics plants produce naturally. If, for example, a
coca plant is doused with the fungi, it wilts, and decades must pass before
the area is again suitable for growing coca. Beans, corn or other crops
grown nearby are unaffected. Environmental Protection Agency scientists
believe no harm would come to humans or animals as well. The same
technologies can be applied to eradicate plants used for marijuana and
heroin.

Advocates and skeptics agree that the program will go nowhere without the
support of the drug-producing countries.

Unless the political groundwork is properly laid, farmers' unions or
environmental groups in the coca-growing countries could come out in
opposition, nullifying the possibility of cooperation, officials say.

The costs of drug addiction are obvious: 14,218 drug-related deaths in
1995, and the price to society each year is $67 billion, according to the
Office of National Drug Control Policy.