The promotion of mycoherbicides as a weapon in the War on Drugs by some congressmen ["Fungus touted as weapon in a biowar against drugs", Chronicle, page A-1, January 18, 2007] is another example of thinking so bad that it is irrational. This idea is bad for three major reasons.

First, it would release another plant or animal into new ecosystems in which the result is unforeseeable. These fungi could easily end up like the rabbits and cane toads in Australia, Zebra Mussels in the Great Lakes, Chinese leaping carp in American waterways, or Kudzu vines in the South. These creatures have all become horrible blights in places where they have no natural enemies.

Second, their destructiveness would not be limited to just the "bad" drugs. They same opium poppy that produces heroin also produces morphine, still the major medical painkiller; codeine, used in cough medicines; and the precursor of the Vicodin, given to most of us by our dentists at one time or another. Even cocaine still has some medical uses; and the medical value of marijuana, while now well established, is just now being fully explored. Turning a biokiller loose on these plants would surely be cutting off ones nose to spite ones face.

Third, eradicating these crops would be a futile gesture. Heroin users could easily turn to totally synthetic drugs like methadone or fentanyl, which they have done in the past when supplies of heroin were low. Cocaine users would merely turn to the synthetic amphetamines for their highs. Even THC, the primary active ingredient in marijuana, is available in a synthetic form. Drug use would go on even if certain drugs disappeared.

It is time for legislators to realize they cannot end drug abuse by attacking the drugs. They must, instead, face the issues presented by the drug users with reason based on medical and social knowledge instead.