Biological Warfare in Colombia

That the United States is discussing the use of fungi to eradicate marijuana, coca and opium poppy plants in Colombia (Aug. 30) looks like offensive biological warfare to me. The 1925 Geneva Protocol forbids biological methods of warfare, and in 1969 Richard Nixon issued a presidential declaration on ending the U.S. biological weapons program. National stocks of such weapons were supposedly destroyed by 1972.

The U.S. and United Nations have severely criticized Iraq and Saddam Hussein for preparing biological weapons, including wheat smut rust, which makes grain unsuited for consumption. One of the organisms proposed for use in Colombia, a fungus of the Fusarium genus, is related to major plant pathogens of wheat and corn and occasional human pathogens.

While I cannot answer whether such fungi can transfer genes to related fungi under field conditions, this is a possibility. Our government should not risk unleashing a major crop disease. Remember the damage caused by the Irish potato blight, Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight, each caused by the introduction of an exotic fungus.

I was the chair of the UCLA biosafety committee 1975-1982 and am a researcher in viral diseases.

DAVID D. PORTER MD

Professor Emeritus, UCLA

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President Clinton has a lot of nerve saying that he “rejects the idea that we must choose between supporting peace and fighting drugs” (Aug. 31). By waiving congressional human rights conditions, he apparently believes the choice is between fighting drugs and human rights.

MIGUEL MUNOZ

Los Angeles