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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1983)
V\Vv>>VVv.VV>V ir v v v vv.vvv v.v.V Page 10/The Battalion/Wednesday, August 17,1983 Use of paraquat to kill marijuana spurs conflict United Press international spokesman Ted Switt said Mon- states are participants in the some illegal weed WASHINGTON — The clay. “We are currently consider- DEA’s “domestic cannabis eradi- said. United Press International WASHINGTON — The Reagan administration still is considering the use of the con troversial herbicide paraquat to kill marijuana plants on federal land in as many as 40 states, White House officials say. The Drug Enforcement Administration has completed what officials considered a suc cessful trial run, spraying sever al plots in the Chattahoochee National Forest in north Geor gia last week. However, the secretive . spraying led to a storm of local controversy, and a federaljudge in Atlanta restrained the gov ernment Monday from any more spraying in the national forest. “We’re not planning to cease spraying paraquat,” DEA spokesman Ted Swift said Mon- day. “We are currently consider ing spraying paraquat on other federal lands. I can’t tell you when or where.” DEA officials said spraying has been completed in north Georgia and probably will be re sumed elsewhere. Pat McKelvey, a spokesman for the White House Drug Abuse Policy Office, said para quat is far more effective than hand eradication, which also is dangerous. “People on the ground are good targets,” he said. “A lot of people have been shot at. There are bear traps and all kinds of Vietnam-era pitfalls.” McKelvey ^ said paraquat, which first was used in Mexico to kill the illegal weed, could be used in all but 10 states. The 40 states are participants in the DEA’s “domestic cannabis eradi cation program.” Nevada, Alaska, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connec ticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey and the District of Columbia ar^ the only states not participating in the DEA program. Most of those states are not involved because they don’t have serious problems with the illegal crop, McKelvey said. He said paraquat is used safe ly on 10.7 million acres of farm land in the United States to kill weeds. He charged marijuana growers with exaggerating the alleged health hazard of the her bicide. “Nobody says anything about it until we go into a little place in north Georgia and spray it on McKelvey some illegal weed,’ said. He said the hysteria “is manu factured by the growers and the people who would like to see marijuana legalized.” McKelvey said the spray did not spread onto private land and is not a hazard to anyone, even marijuana smokers. The herbi cide, he claimed, “turns the plants into dust” within 72 hours. “You can’t make ajoint out of dust,” he said, adding that DEA agents watch the plots to make sure the weed cannot be har vested before it decays. McKelvey said the highly tox ic paraquat is heavily diluted with water before being sprayed from specially equipped heli copters. ff Everyday prices atTSO are lower than most advertised discount” prices Compare price, compare quality — you cannot beat the values on prescription eyewear at TSO. And that’s true fora// TSO eyewear, including famous designer frames. Doctor’s Prescription Required Texas State Of’ticae Prices you can afford. Quality you can see. 216 N. Main Bryan 779-2786 Post Oak Mall College Station 764-0010 Siamese twins have final major surgery United Press International SALT LAKE CITY — Siamese twins Lisa and Elisa Hansen returned to the Univer sity of Utah Medical Center Tuesday to prepare for follow up operations after the historic surgery which separated their heads four years ago. Doctors covered the babies’ heads with tissue and skin flaps with hair follicles so that each now has blonde hair, but the tops of their heads are so soft, they must wear protective bon nets. The skull reconstructions “will be the last major surgical step,” said Dr. Theodore Roberts, head of the neuro surgery team that separated the girls born with the rare condi tion known as craniopagus. Lisa, who suffers the greater physical impairment, will have a shunt, or tubing, placed in her head today to relieve pressure from excess brain fluid, a hospit al spokesman said. Bill Thompson, 73, sets up his fruit stand every weekend near It’s melon time Frankston in East Texas to his home grown melons. Testimony begins in DC-9 case Board to confirm cause of fire United Press International FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — The National Transportation Safety Board wants to deter mine if further evidence will back up preliminary findings linking a fire in an Air Canada DC-9 last June to an electrical motor in the plane’s lavatory. Twenty-three passengers died in the blaze. Rudolph Kapustin, investiga tor-in-charge for the board, was expected to be the first of about 30 witnesses called by the NTSB during public hearings that be gan Tuesday. The proceedings began at a motel near the Greater Cincin nati Airport in Florence, Ky., where the burning Air Canada Flight 797 was forced to land with 46 people aboard the night of June 2. All five crew members and some of the 18 passengers who managed to escape the choking smoke that filled the plane were subpoenaed by the board to tes tify. Air Canada executives and officials of DC-9 manufacturer McDonnell-Douglas Corp. also were to be queried by board members about the ill-fated flight, which was en route from Dallas to Toronto when the fire occurred. The NTSB officially has not determined the cause of the blaze, but evidence indicates that the fire began in a rear re stroom and was electrical in origin. The first unusual thing noticed on the plane was the popping of three tiny circuit breakers linked to an electrical motor in the lavatory that ran the toilet flusher. Following the fire, the NTSB and the FederalAviatios nistration requested McDonnell-DoUglasasli customers to inspect d circuitry in lavatories on cent of their fleets. Last month, the boati the FAA to require aiti inspect lavatory fit motors after an investf flushing pump motoisK from Air Canada DC- other airplanes show dence of motor conos overheating in internal The hearings may® through Friday, depen: the length of testimony SOMETHING ELSE HAIR SALON PERM SPECIA Regularly $ 40-$45 Now $ 30- s 35 MEN—WOMEN—CHILDREN Offer good thru Sept. 3, 1983 M-F 8:00-7:00 Sat. 8-3:0 693-9877 404 E. Universil Let us be among the first to welcome you to your new hometown. It’s been our hometown for some time now, and we’re glad to have you with us. - We’re a local bank, but we’re also part of a leading statewide bank holding company. So we’re well equipped to give you the services and conveniences you’re looking for in your bank. We’ve got information . that will make moving in easier, too. You’ll find information on schools, churches, museums, cultural events, parks and recreational facilities. 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