When Americans of a certain generation hear the word “paraquat”, the first thing they might think of is Mexican weed. In the late 1970s, when the United States government paid the Mexican government to spray the herbicide on marijuana crops south of the border, they thought it was a good idea.
Hispanic weed might come to mind when Americans of a particular age first hear the word “paraquat.” Because the US government believed it would be a good idea to pay the Mexican government to spray this dangerous herbicide on marijuana fields south of the border in the late 1970s. Pot was prohibited in all US states at the time, but many Americans still smoked imported marijuana because they worried that their THC would become a harsh chemical. Bill Allayaud, who is of a particular age, knew immediately what I was talking about. For the nonprofit Environmental Working Group ( EWG), which is rallying against a new state law banning the spraying of paraquat in California, I was surprised to learn that growers of almonds, pistachios, and cotton still use it in large numbers, he is vice president of California government affairs. The feds ’ paraquat ploy “blew up in their face, ” Allayaud recalls. “Everyone’s like, ‘ What, you’re spraying weed that ’s being imported into the United States? Does smoking cause illness in people? Given that no one wanted to go to jail, it would have been difficult to follow that. ( The feds, in any case, continued with their spraying programs elsewhere. ) But yet the government acknowledges that paraquat, now banned in more than 60 countries, is very dangerous. A limited chemical, it has been linked to increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, and to diverse cancers and neurological problems. Although the US EPA forbids its use on golf courses, it can still be sprayed on crops. “Do we definitely need a 60-year-old pesticide that looks like it could be causing Parkinson’s disease? ” Allayaud points out that in 2017, a firm controlled by the Chinese government acquired Syngenta, the European agri-giant that invented and manufactured paraquat, “and therefore China banned its use in China! ” he says. “Brazil, a large agricultural economy, has banned its use. The European Union… Because we don’t want to spray it on thousands of acres. Let’s get rid of this stuff. ” An EWG-affiliated volunteer publication, The New Lede, collaborated with the Guardian in 2022 on an investigation showing—via a trove of documents it dubbed “the Paraquat Papers ”—how Syngenta has labored to protect its market position: “Insiders feared they could face legal liability for long-term, severe effects of paraquat as long back as 1975,” the report notes. A scientist at a company called the situation” a very bad problem,” and there could be a solution. ” Paraquat does not appear to show up in food, Allayaud clarifies, as it breaks along immediately. The issue is that it binds to the clays in farm soil, where it can persist for months, get stirred up by tractors, and get inhaled by farmworkers and others who spend a lot of time near to fields and orchards. “This is a highly restricted pesticide, ” Allauayd says. They wear hazmat suits, respirators, and gloves when they spray it, and it is only possible to spray when there is little wind. However, the farm workers who enter the field immediately do n’t. ” Those farmworkers, no unexpectedly, are increasingly Latino. California growers sprayed 5 according to an analysis EWG published in late March. 3 million pounds of paraquat from 2017 to 2021. Two-thirds of the spraying took place in only five agricultural counties, all majority Latino. According to Allayaud, “study after study has shown that people living right next to these areas tend to have higher rates of several ” health issues. “Do we definitely need a 60-year-old pesticide that looks like it could be causing Parkinson’s disease? By the end of 2025, Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Burbank ) proposed a bill called AB 1963 that would end the sale and use of paraquat in California. “Parkinson’s is a thief in the night. It steals peoples ’ lives, ” the press release states. “ While we don’t have a cure for Parkinson’s, we can lessen the incidence rate for agricultural workers. ” There are safer chemicals accessible, according to team Friedman. There are also nonchemical methods—Allayaud points out that agricultural officials, scientists, and some growers have been emphasizing “integrated pest management, ” an approach that aims to reduce the spraying of toxic chemicals via techniques like farming, crop rotation, and use of natural predators to control insect pests. However, Allayaud anticipates that Big Ag and its trade associations will continue to stymie his coalition. They like to claim “the dose is the poison, ” he says. Late in Sacramento, I recently heard a man testify to that effect. That’s ancient, ancient thinking—and unstable science today. ” Hispanic weed might come to mind when Americans of a particular age first hear the word “paraquat.” Because the US government believed it would be a good idea to pay the Mexican government to spray this dangerous herbicide on marijuana fields south of the border in the late 1970s.
When Americans of a certain generation hear the word “paraquat”, the first thing they might think of is Mexican weed. In the late 1970s, when the United States government paid the Mexican government to spray the herbicide on marijuana crops south of the border, they thought it was a good idea.
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