Printer Friendly
The Free Library
4,489,819 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Legalization now!


Toward the end of "Legalization Now!" (June),Toby Muse discusses U.S.-funded fumigation fumigation /fu·mi·ga·tion/ (fu?mi-ga´shun) exposure to disinfecting fumes. efforts against coca farms in Colombia, including costs and some of the drawbacks. I was expecting to see reference to a story by Joshua Davis that I read last November in Wired, but I did not.

The story, titled "The Mystery of the Coca Plant That Wouldn't Die," details the emergence of coca plants that are resistant to the primary chemical used in the fumigation (glyphosate, or Roundup).The new plants were most likely created not through centralized genetic engineering carried out by a drug cartel but through decentralized selective breeding carried out by the coca farmers themselves. Davis speculates that even if the U.S. switched to another chemical, the same process would likely happen again, with resistant strains surviving and being quickly propagated by the farmers.

Michael A. Schwegel

Coeur d'Alene, ID
COPYRIGHT 2005 Reason Foundation
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:Letters
Author:Schwegel, Michael A.
Publication:Reason
Article Type:Letter to the Editor
Date:Nov 1, 2005
Words:148
Previous Article:Not so supreme.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
Next Article:Self-defense vs. municipal gun bans.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)



Related Articles
400 readers give their views.(replies to symposium results published in the February 12, 1996, National Review)(Abolish the Drug Laws?)(Cover Story)
Mormons, morals, and marriage.(same-sex marriage and the Mormon Church)(Brief Article)
Draft bill lacks conscience protection, erodes trial by jury. (Canada).(Brief Article)
PANEL OPPOSES GARAGE HOUSING; OFFICIALS CALL FOR NEW STUDIES OF `GRANNY FLAT' ISSUE.(News)
Let's give immigrants security in their new homeland: undocumented immigrants shouldn't have to pay for 9/11. Bishop Jaime Soto argues for the return...
COUNCIL ENDORSES SB 1645.(Viewpoint)
Pastors object to language on gays.(signs of the times)
A look at the perpetrators: the list of interest groups encouraging "astroturf" is as long as the list of interest groups.(Turf wars: the editor...
30 years ago in reason.(Citings)
Libertarianism vs. common sense.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles