Drug Warriors Push Eye-Eating Fungus

[MikeNearMcChord]

By Jeremy Bigwood

An infection caused by Fusarium fungus destroys a human cornea.
On April 16, the New York Times ran a full-page ad from contact lens producer Bausch and Lomb, announcing the recall of its “ReNu with MoistureLoc” rewetting solution, and warning the 30 million American wearers of soft contact lenses about Fusarium keratitis. This infection, first detected in Asia, has rapidly spread across the United States. It is caused by a mold-like fungus that can penetrate the cornea of soft contact lens wearers, causing redness and pain that can lead to blindness—requiring a corneal replacement.

That same week, the House of Representatives passed a provision to a bill requiring that the very same fungus be sprayed in “a major drug-producing country,” such as Colombia. The bill’s sponsor was Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) and its most vocal supporter was his colleague Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who has been promoting the fungus for almost a decade as key to winning the drug war.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2657/

[mike_c]

1. mother of god you can't make this shit up....

Spraying industrial herbicides on poor brown people isn't enough for these rat bastards-- now they want to use live bioagents. Tell me again how this differs from conspiracy to commit bio-terrorism?

[MikeNearMcChord]

3. Perhaps the Colombians ought to return the favor

and spray bioagents on Indiana's wheat and corn fields, as well as other living plants in the Hoosier State, see how they like it.

[Asgaya Dihi]

2. I've sent messages to reps about this for months now

This is some nasty stuff, even a lot of drug warriors think the idea is nuts but it keeps coming back. Nobody can be sure it's even specific to what they want to use it on and given the rate that these things mutate even if it was specific they can't guarantee it will stay there. They want to release this stuff into one of the most sensitive ecosystems in the region, one they've already damaged with spraying from aircraft.

A link from a drug policy forum with some info on it
http://www.drugpolicy.org/drugwar/environment/index.cfm

And a page to send a letter on the subject if you'd care to.
http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=29678

[sweetheart]

8. Columbia is a humanitarian disaster thans to the drugswar

Its one of the 10 most underreported horror stories of the year:

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/colombia.cfm

[High Plains]

4. Even the US government doesn't want to do this!

It's being pushed by uber-drug warrior Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) and his buddy Dan Burton (R-IN).

Souder is the guy who created the "smoke a joint, lose your student loan" law that has kept more than 180,000 students from receiving financial aid because they had a prior drug bust.

Souder is without doubt the WORST drug warrior on the Hill.

[lectrobyte]

5. When the Karmic Hammer hits the US, it's gonna be a bitch.

[cantstandbush]

6. Wait until the greatest consumer of drugs from Colombia get hit

literally "between the eyes" with this shit. DUers, invest you money in any company that is treating eye disease in the US. We are about to have an epidemic.

[Javaman]

7. And this is why I won't ever wear contacts...

personally, I just don't see the advantage to sticking something in your eye when glasses work perfectly well.

But then again, that's me.

Better than a sharp stick in the eye any day. ;)

[Igel]

9. Why do people have to make false statements to buttress

their arguments?

'That same week, the House of Representatives passed a provision to a bill requiring that the very same fungus be sprayed in “a major drug-producing country,” such as Colombia' is a blatantly false statement.

Not the greatest thing to spray; bad for crops of all sorts, and rather longer lasting than I'd like. On the other hand, the quasi-hysteria in this article is also silly.

Fusarium is a genus. There are a lot of fungi in that species. Sure, they mutate a bit. But the Bolivian peasants are already exposed to Fusarium--I've had it in my apartment and in my garden, it killed my pachypodia and tomatoes. F. oxysporum, no doubt. It's as common as dirt, because it's common *in* dirt. Got unsterilized dirt in the wild, you probably got fusarium. Some species of it. Bolivia, Nepal, W. Africa, Maryland or Los Angeles.

Stating that the species of fungus that eats corneas when long-wear contact lenses are on them is the same species of fungus as killed my pachys?... Don't buy it.

[Asgaya Dihi]

10. It's the variety, not the name

Nightshades are often deadly, but the tomato is a part of the nightshade family. There are exceptions and degrees. An example of a more potent or dangerous type is Fusarium oxysporum and it is a little more tricky than the garden variety. You can read about it at the following if you'd like.

http://ohio.sierraclub.org/northeast/essays.asp?rl=es051112&DocID=ORF2002_3

Now if you go to the drug policy link I posted above you'll find this quote.

"The greatest potential threat to the environment is the prospect of biologically engineered fungi intended to wipe out illicit drug crops. Scientists funded by the U.S. and British governments have been developing a killer fungus that destroys opium poppies. The genetically engineered fungus is designed to destroy opium poppies but leave other plant species unharmed. Similar fungi are being designed to eradicate coca and marijuana. Due to concerns that the introduction of genetically altered organisms designed to wipe out entire plant species could prove catastrophic, killer fungi have yet to be put into use. Proponents of biological warfare as a "silver bullet" that will win the drug war once and for all fail to recognize that natural drugs have synthetic counterparts. If every last plant in South America were destroyed, methamphetamine production would increase to meet the demand for cocaine-like drugs."

We aren't talking about a standard variety, and we aren't even taking the more potent ones naturally. It's like comparing ebola with the flu. They want a super breed that won't make something sick like what we're used to, it will kill it and everything like it. If they can't contain it that's a rain forest gone and whatever effects it has on the population as well. That's why even many drug warriors think it's nuts.

[Igel]

13. But it's a different species.

It's not the very same fungus. For me, to say that the stuff attacking somebody's cornea and the stuff attacking a plant is "the very same virus" doesn't mean they're in the same genus. It means they're at least the same species, if not the same virus.

When I look at a plant and I look at another plant in the same genus, I don't say, "Yep, they're the very same plant."

I agree; it's a nasty strain, because most of the farmers grow their own food, and because it'll attack far more than the target plant. This is a more than acceptable argument. But that doesn't mean the statement I cited is correct. And, in the last few days, I've run across too many statements that were obvious misrepresentations of what somebody said, and either the writer was foolish or a liar. I can't tell. But I don't like swallowing the pabulum peddled either by fools or liars, whether I ultimately agree with their conclusions and motivation or not.

[Asgaya Dihi]

14. No argument

As I said a half hour ago in post 12 the one that concerns me is the bio-engineered one that they want to release. The eye thing may or may not be different in that strain but if so I don't have any info on it.

I think we ended up with two separate conversations going on in the same thread ;) The concern with the bio-engineered one is very real and it's serious enough that even our own drug control offices has been on record against use due to the risk but some special interests keep putting it back up year after year. The eye, you may well be right.

[fishnfla]

11. hysteria+hyperbole=ignorance

I dont approve of this policy to be sure, but Holy Jumping Catfish tone down the bullshit already.

I dont suppose that people would care to know that this "eye-eating fungus" (That Ate New York!!) is as common as dirt and could very well be found in places as common as your nearest faucet. Or that this and other worse pathogens could penetrate the intact human cornea whether you wear contacts or not.

N'ah, its only an evil government plan and they neatly bundled it with some recent scary news because well, that sells I guess

[Asgaya Dihi]

12. True

As far as I know the eye thing and the drug thing aren't related. Doesn't help one argument to confuse it with another. The engineered one worries me though.