HERBICIDE COULD BE USED IN DRUG WAR DESPITE DIRE WARNING BY MAKER

Colombian anti-narcotics agencies, under pressure from the United States to
improve eradication of drug crops, are planning to use a herbicide so
strong that its manufacturer says it could cause environmental damage.

In 1997, Colombian anti-narcotic agents sprayed 41,161 hectares of coca,
6,962 hectares of poppies and eight hectares of marijuana in "the largest
eradication of coca and poppy crops that has taken placein the world in a
year", according to the counter-narcotics police director, Colonel Leonardo
Gallego. But the US feels it is still not enough.

A State Department official said that the herbicide used, Glyphosate, led
to a less than 50 per cent rate of effectiveness. So Col Gallego is backing
a switch to Tebuthiuron.

Dow Agro Sciences manufacture Tebuthiuron, or Spike. It also produced the
contraversial defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

It is so concerned about the potential misuse of Tebuthiuron that it warns
customers never to apply it near trees, water sources or any place where it
can accidentally kill desirable plant life. It specifically says it is not
the product for wide-scale eradication of illicit drug crops.

Dow finds itself in the unusual position of siding with the environmental
groups against the US government proposal to make Tebuthiuron a centrepiece
in the war on drugs in Colombia.

US government researchers have listed Tebuthiuron as the most effective of
several potential eradication chemicals and insist it can be used safely.

Environmental groups, including Greepeace and the World Wildlife Fund, have
objected to even limited tests of Tebuthiuron in Colombia, arguing that its
rain and terrain makes it too risky for such an herbicide. Members of
President Ernesto Samper's government also have raised concerns, but also
under pressure, have expressed willingness to consider the US proposals.

"It's insanity," said an MP, Algeria Fonseca. "This chemical was never
designed for eradication. It was meant to be applied on weeds in industrial
parks... It is not selective in what it wipes out."

Ted McKinney, a Dow spokesman, agreed. "Tebuthiuron is not labelled for use
on any crops in Colombia, and it is our desire that this product not be
used for illicit crop eradication," he said. "It can be very risky in
situations where the territory has slopes, rainfall is significant,
desirable plants or trees are nearby and applicaiton is made under
less-than-ideal circumstances."

Colombia is having to weigh the threat of environmental damage against the
risk of further decertification by the US and the economic sanctions that
entails. US officials have made it clear that unless Colombia takes
decisive action to curb the rapid expansion of coca and opium cultivation,
it could risk returning to the list of nations decertified by Washington as
allies in the war on drugs. Colombia was removed from that list only last
month after enduring two years as an international pariah.

Despite the huge aerial eradication programme by Colombian anti-narcotics
police, the amount of land under cultivation has nearly doubled in the past
five years to around 150,000 acres, according to government statistics.

The problem is that more than 40 per cent of the country is controlled by
rebels who "tax" and protect drug production to fund their war.

Anti-narcotics police cannot operate in much of this territory, and aerial
spraying, a notoriously inaccurate and inefficiant method of drug crop
eradication, is the only means at their disposal. Furthermore, its use does
nothing to prevent increased cultivation for drugs crops.

A US department of agriculture herbicide researcher, Charles Helling, said
the advantage of Tebuthiuron is that it can be quickly applied from high
altitude in any conditions, with a higher rate of effectiveness than
Glyphosate.