Paraquat still present
By CATHERINE SIEGNER
Of the Emerald
Remember paraquat? Last spring, pot smokers
were frantically examining their stash for
traces of the poisonous substance Mexican offi
cials with U.S. government support, were spray
inq onto marijuana fields.
Unlike swine flu and comet Kahoutek, paraquat
was, and still is, a reality.
Paraquat is one of the most toxic substances
known. Seven drops of the herbicide can kill a
150-pound person, and smoking marijuana
treated with it can produce permanent lung and
tissue damage
When the paraquat scare was at its height in
April and May, the University’s Drug Information
Center (DIC) was sending hundreds of marijuana
samples to Pharmchem laboratory in Palo Alto,
Calif, for testing.
45 samples from around the U.S. were found to
contain paraquat at Pharmchem. However, the
Center for Disease Control in Atlanta retested the
same samples later and found only one positive
test result in the group.
Dale Gordon, information specialist for the DIC,
said the testing procedures were different, and
may account for the different results.
Pharmchem is not doing any testing for para
quat now," he said. The DCDC’s testing proce
dure is somewhat more sophisticated, but not
necessarily more correct than Pharmchem’s.
There were some false positives at Pharmchem,
but the tests are as much art as science.’’
The test for presence of paraquat is delicate
and demands a good eye to detect subtle color
changes. The marijuana is placed in a sulfuric
acid bath that reduces it to a gooey mass.
Extractions from the pot believed to contain
paraquat are then exposed to a photographic
plate.
“The solution will crawl up the plate,” Gordon
explained. “If it contains paraquat, it will leave
colored lines on the plate.”
Some laboratories around the country are still
testing for paraquat, Gordon said. “Upfront, Inc.,
in Clearwater, Fla., has been finding no more than
five percent of samples contain paraquat.”
Most contaminated pot is grown in Mexico. The
Mexican government has conducted a wide
spread spraying program with financial help and
equipment from the United States.
The National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws asked a U.S. District Court last
May for an injunction against the government’s
involvement in Mexican spraying activities.
The court ruled on June 8 that the government
was in violation of the law by “failing to properly
assess the environmental impact of spraying
dangerous herbicides on marijuana fields in Mex
ico.”
NORML’s request for an injunction, however,
was turned down. Judge Joseph Waddy cited
“strong overtones of foreign policy” in refusing the
injunction request.
Ken Stroup, NORML national director, called
for a boycott against both Mexican travel and
Mexican -grown products last summer.
“The Carter administration has demonstrated
obvious moral confusion in this instance,” Stroup
said. “It is supporting a policy of marijuana de
criminalization while poisoning marijuana smok
ers.”
Colombian pot, on the other hand, supposedly
does not contain paraquat, perhaps due to the
relative tolerance of the Colombian government.
“I’ve never seen it written that spraying is going
on in Colombia,” Gordon said. “There’s maybe
some in Venezuela, but it’s difficult to tell.”
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