Pubdate: Mon, 01 Jun 1998 Source: Waco Tribune-Herald (TX) Contact: Author: Editorial Board, Rowland Nethaway, Senior Editor RISKY HERBICIDE As we found out in the Vietnam War and in Desert Storm, lethal chemicals can be as villainous an enemy as the enemy itself. In Columbia, the enemy in America's "drug war" cross-hairs is drug cultivation. U.S. and Columbian officials must not unleash a poison that could add to the war's devastation. The poison in question is Tebuthiuron, which is being considered as a new weapon in the effort to eradicate coca and poppy crops. Dow Chemical, which produces Tebuthiuron, warns that the substance is meant only for pinpoint application, such as weeds on an industrial site. "It is our desire that this product not be used for illicit crop eradication," said a Dow spokesman. Fears center around widespread contamination, water pollution, poisoning of inhabitants around the targeted fields and more. "Overkill" is not always a word that will deter plans in a war. But in the "drug war," thoughts of mass-applying a dangerous substance like this should be stopped dead. - --- Checked-by: Melodi Cornett