U.S. Congressman Mark Souder of Indiana, one of the more audible proponents of the War on Drugs, wants the U.S. Federal government to test and then utilise a fungus that he says could kill coca plants. According to Souder, if Fusarium oxysporum can kill off just the offending plant, it should be used in Colombia. The proposal, which is not new and dates back at least to Bill Clinton’s time in the White House – the idea was eventually dropped – is now getting some opposition from a most unlikely source, the Drug Czar.

John Walters and his staff aren’t against the proposal because it would lead to its application in Colombia, rather than, say, Columbia. Herbicides are already being sprayed in coca fields in the South American country as part of a wider program of interrupting the production of coca and the diversion of land to the production of alternative but less remunerative crops. It is rather the continued implementation and prestige of this program – costing billions and billions of dollars thus far – that could be at risk if the fungus indeed could do damage to the soil and thus other plants as Walters and his staff have asserted.

An unhappy Souder complains that Walters and his team are ignoring work by government scientists that buttresses his case, including tests conducted in Hawaii over a decade ago. As for the Colombian government, it is against the testing of the fungus in their country. And, at least for now, Walters agrees.

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