cannabisnews.com: MSU Confirms Research On Anti-Marijuana Fungus





MSU Confirms Research On Anti-Marijuana Fungus
Posted by FoM on October 17, 1999 at 08:06:46 PT
Source: Billings Gazette
Montana State University has acknowledged that it conducted research on a fungus that destroys marijuana plants, but says the project ended last year when money ran out. 
The fungus fusarium oxysporum causes wilt and other problems in various crops and has drawn attention from national and state governments interested in eradicating illicit drug crops, especially marijuana, coca and opium poppies. The confirmation came in response to an open-records lawsuit filed by the Montana chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws and chapter Director John Masterson of Missoula. The suit was filed after MSU initially refused to release information about the research, contending all documents related to the project were considered proprietary information and contained trade secrets. A suit asking a district judge to make public all fusarium research documents was filed here Aug. 6. MSU's response was filed last week. In the three-page answer to the lawsuit, MSU attorney Leslie Taylor said the school has worked with fusarium, including a greenhouse experiment in Missoula in the 1980s. That experiment was conducted in cooperation with the Missoula County sheriff's office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. However, Taylor said the research ended last December when funding ran out. MSU also claims that since initially denying information to Masterson, the university received permission from the federal government to release some information and did so. "We've gotten some good information, but I think there's more we need to know about what they're doing," Masterson said. He said NORML believes the research is continuing. A proposal to use the soil-borne fungus in Florida to eradicate marijuana caused a controversy between state officials and environmentalists, who worried that the fungus might mutate and attack crops like tomatoes and corn. The fungus that Florida would have used was partially developed by researchers at MSU. In addition to the fusarium that cripples marijuana, MSU scientists have reportedly worked with a strain of fusarium that goes after coca plants. Masterson said he and the organization became alarmed at the potential uses of fusarium. "We were very concerned that the zealotry and lunacy associated with the drug war could be driving us to a point where we might be using a potentially dangerous fungus on American soil," Masterson told the Missoulian. "It seemed like a nightmare waiting to happen." Updated: Sunday, October 17, 1999Copyright © The Billings GazetteMontana NORML norml montana.comhttp://www.montananorml.org Group Sues MSU Over Anti-Marijuana Fungus - 10/14/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3283.shtmlMT NORML Files Suit On Killer Fungus Research - 8/13/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2479.shtml 
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