Mike, it might be a mistake to assume somebody using the id "thames_sider" is American, though with all the Londons and New Londons here, I suppose there must be a Thames to set up along side somewhere. I don't thing paraquat is used much in the US these days, glyphosate aka Round-up is much more common. I do recall reading an article long ago about paraquat in the third world, and how people would drink it out of random glass bottles and die a slow and painful death that could only be forestalled by a lung transplant. That rather odd history is somewhat documented in 194.79.144.120 .
There are three major routes of paraquat exposure. The most common is accidental or intentional oral
ingestion. A solution of paraquat is dark brown colour, and resembles root beer, cola, dark vinegar and soy
source. Since the paraquat solution is tasteless, it can be easily used for homicide attempts. The second
most common route is through skin contact, especially in individuals who have pre-existing skin lesions.
Inhalation of paraquat is also a source of paraquat exposure. Usually, inhalation of spray is unlikely to cause
systemic toxicity because of its low vapour pressure and the large droplets that are formed. However, when
paraquat is used in a confined space, fatal pulmonary disease has occurred (paraquat spray in a green
house [4]).
Looking further down the google list, I got to the more sinister history that I'd forgotten about:
Causes and Risks:
Paraquat is a weed killer used by the ATF (department of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms) for the large-scale destruction of marijuana plants. Drug
dealers, in an effort to salvage their crops, harvest the Paraquat tainted
marijuana and sell it. The unsuspecting marijuana smoker then inhales the
Paraquat while inhaling smoke. Paraquat may cause lung damage by
inhalation, absorption through the gut, or through intact skin. umm.drkoop.com
I just love the war on some drugs, which brings us up to today's news:
U.S. Identified Baptists' Plane as Drug Carrier nytimes.com
The airplane carrying American missionaries that was shot down on Friday in Peru had been mistakenly identified as a carrier of contraband drugs, a State Department official said tonight.
The official declined to say whether the mistake was made by a United States aircraft, but there was American surveillance plane in the area that was communicating with Peruvian military aircraft.
A missionary and her infant daughter were killed when the plane, a Cessna 185, was downed by fire from a Peruvian Air Force fighter jet.
The United States surveillance flights were suspended pending an investigation of the incident.
"An unarmed U.S. government tracking aircraft was in the area and provided location data for the subsequent intercept mission that was conducted by the Peruvian Air Force," the State Department official said.
The United States and Peru have had a long-standing project in which American spotters inform Peruvian interceptors when they spot what they think are drug runners.
Those killed in the downing of the American plane were Veronica Bowers, 35, a missionary with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, and her daughter, Charity, 7 months old.
Maybe some day, there will be an American President not dogged by ridiculous drug rumors who'll be able to see the tunnel at the end of the tunnel in the war on some drugs, declare victory, and go home. Until that happens, though, I imagine we'll just go on doubling our prison population every 5 or 10 years, shooting down babies, and making the world safe for random mafia types to haul in $billions on the operation. |
