Editing Coca eradication (section)

==Environmental impact==
Plots denuded of coca plants by mechanical means (burning or cutting) or chemical [[herbicide]]s, such as [[glyphosate]], are abandoned and cause serious problems with [[erosion]] in seasonal rains. Because of the continuous high demand for coca, once a plot is destroyed the planters simply move further into the forest, clearing new lands for coca production. It is this vicious cycle of unsustainable cultivation-eradication that has caused the environment in coca producing zones to suffer substantial decline.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide, one of the most controversial methods of coca eradication, has taken place in Colombia exclusively because of that government's willingness to cooperate with the United States in the militarized eradication of coca after signing [[Plan Colombia]] in 2000.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In many cases the spraying is carried out by American contractors, such as [[DynCorp]], using planes and helicopters to spray glyphosate on coca plantations.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Aerial spraying has been repeatedly condemned by human rights and environmental activists because of its effect on human populations and local soil and water systems.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In December 2000, Dutch journalist [[Marjon van Royen]] found that "because the chemical is sprayed in Colombia from planes on inhabited areas, there have been consistent health complaints [in humans]. Burning eyes, dizziness and respiratory problems being most frequently reported." In some areas, 80 percent of the children of the indigenous community fell sick with skin rashes, fever, diarrhoea and eye infections.<ref>[http://marjonvanroyen.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=525&Itemid=46 Driven Mad by Itch], [[NRC Handelsblad]], December 28, 2000</ref> Because the glyphosate is sprayed from the air, there is a much higher chance of human error when spraying suspected illegal coca plantations. In many cases the wrong fields are sprayed, resulting in not only a total loss of the farmer's crop- but the loss of that field altogether as nothing will grow where the herbicide has been sprayed.<ref name="Sue Branford 2005">Hugh O’Shaughnessy and Sue Branford, Chemical Warfare in Colombia: The Costs of Coca Fumigation (London: Latin America Bureau, 2005.)</ref> Though official documentation of the health effects of glyphosate spraying in Colombia are virtually non-existent, neighbouring Ecuador has conducted studies to determine the cause of mysterious illnesses amongst people living along the border of Colombia and has since demanded that no aerial sprayings occur within 10&nbsp;km of the border because of the damages caused to the people, animals and environment in that area.<ref name="Sue Branford 2005"/> In 2015, Colombia announced a ban on using glyphosate in these programs due to concerns about human toxicity of the chemical.<ref name = BBCColumbia>[[BBC]]. May 10, 2015. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32677411 Colombia to ban coca spraying herbicide glyphosate]</ref>

In addition, the U.S. has also been involved in the development of the [[fungus]] ''[[Fusarium oxysporum]]'' to wipe out coca.<ref name=vicious>[http://www.tni.org/archives/jelsma/viciouscircle-e.htm Vicious Circle: The Chemical and Biological 'War on Drugs'] report by the Transnational Institute (TNI), March 2001</ref><ref name=dpb7>[http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?page=policybriefings_brief7 The Re-emergence of the Biological War on Drugs], TNI Drug Policy Briefing 7, May 2004</ref> In 2000, the [[Congress of the United States]] approved use of ''Fusarium'' as a biological control agent to kill coca crops in Colombia (and another fungus to kill [[opium|opium poppies]] in [[Afghanistan]]), but these plans were canceled by then-President [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]], who was concerned that the unilateral use of a biological agent would be perceived by the rest of the world as [[biological warfare]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The Andean nations have since banned its use throughout the region.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} (The use of biological agents to kill crops may be illegal under the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] of 1975.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}})

[[File:2015 Colombia Coca Cultivation (30584184580).jpg|thumb|Source: DEA Intelligence Division, December 2013]]

On June 25, 2003, the Superior Administrative Court of the Colombian department of [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]] ordered a stop to the spraying of [[glyphosate]] herbicides until the government complies with the environmental management plan for the eradication program. It also mandated a series of studies to protect public health and the environment.<ref name=cu>[http://www.colombiaupdate.com/Members/bill/panna/view Colombia Court Nixes Spray Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031002125319/http://www.colombiaupdate.com/Members/bill/panna/view |date=2003-10-02 }}, Colombia Update</ref> The Colombian State Council, the country's maximum administrative authority, later overruled the court's decision to stop fumigations.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Recently, [[Boliviana negra]], a [[glyphosate]]-resistant type of coca plant has been found.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}