The true cost of the US's so-called "drugs war" in Columbia is mounting. There have now been 4,000 human and 178,000 animal reported cases of serious skin, eye, respiratory and digestive problems due to the mass spraying of Monsanto's Roundup and Roundup Ultra herbicides.

Although available over the counter worldwide, Roundup should be used with extreme care, according to Monsanto. Having stated that it will kill virtually any green plant, the company warns that it should not be applied to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes or streams as it can harm certain aquatic organisms. After an area has been sprayed with Roundup, people and pets (such as cats and dogs) should stay out of the area until it is thoroughly dry. Grazing animals such as horses, cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, tortoises and fowl should remain out of the treated area for two weeks. If Roundup is used to control undesirable plants around fruit or nut trees, or grapevines, people should allow twenty-one days before eating the fruits or nuts.

Against Monsanto's advice, the Roundup and Roundup Ultra are being sprayed from higher than usual altitudes to avoid gunfire, ensuring the 'accidental' spraying of non-drug crops, animals and people. Monsanto's advice continues, "It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in any manner inconsistent with its labelling. Do not apply this product in a way that will contact workers or other persons, either directly or through drift. Only protected handlers may be in the area during application."

Furthermore, the US army has added another highly toxic compound, the completely untested Cosmo Flux 411F (a surfactant used to penetrate the waxy surface coatings of the leaves) into the herbicide mix - The Roundup/Cosmoflux mixture has never been scientifically evaluated.. Initial work by Columbian biologist and chemist Dr. Elsa Nivia has shown that the addition increases the herbicide's biological action fourfold, producing relative exposure levels 104 times higher than the recommended doses for normal agricultural applications in the United States, and toxic enough to kill cows and sheep.

Ed.- Monsanto was the manufacturer and supplier to the US Army of the herbicide Agent Orange used in the Vietnam war. The herbicide not only deforested large areas of Vietnam but also caused over 50,000 birth defects and hundreds of thousands of cancers in both Vietnamese civilians and soldiers and former U.S. troops. After the war, it came to light that Monsanto had known about this toxicity as early as the late 1940s and had tried to cover it up. At that time, Monsanto workers had regularly become sick with symptoms such as skin rashes, joint and limb pain, after being exposed to 2,4,5-T, the specific Agent Orange component that breaks down to form TCDD. After the end of the war, U.S. Vietnam veterans sued Monsanto for causing their illnesses. The company settled out of court, paying them about $80 million in damages. The Vietnamese victims received nothing.