Paraquat Poster
In May, 1978, The Village Voice put these posters up on newstands and racks to publicize an article about paraquat, an herbicide being sprayed on Mexican marijuana by the DEA. Paraquat-laced herb was being hastily harvested, processed and sold; traces of the dangerous compound had been detected on samples of marijuana sent to Pharm Chem, an analytical lab in Menlo Park, California. I scanned in the poster after getting an email the other day from Keith Stroup, the founder of NORML.
Keith sent along a story from msnbc describing a recent conference of Parkinson's researchers at which it was reported that farm workers exposed to paraquat had more than double the normal risk of contracting the disease. It was also reported that in an animal study, paraquat exposure led to an increase in brain tissue of alpha-synuclein, a protein that may cause the death of cells that produce dopamine (which helps regulate motion). Keith commented, "So we were right back in 1977 to raise hell with Peter Bourne and Jimmy Carter over their spraying of paraquat on marijuana in Mexico. A little late to help me in my fight with Peter! But, better late than never."
I sent Keith the poster and a note: "Of course we were right. " But I never really felt entirely right about my piece in the Voice because an editor had taken liberties that changed its focus. A huge headline read (if memory serves) “THIS MAN COULD STOP PARAQUAT” alongside a photo of Peter Bourne, MD, Carter's adviser on drug policy. I had expressed mild disappointment in Bourne, but he wasn’t the focus of my story. I respected him (a paper he wrote as an army doctor is included in The Unlawful Concert), we had mutual friends, and I didn’t know enough about his power within the administration to make the claim made in the headline.