"Dennis G." wrote in message
...
"Jeff Dean" wrote:

Had an idea to put out here. There has been all this worry about GM
crops
cross contaminating normal crops via pollen. What would happen if
somebody
was to modify opium or cocoa plants, so that they didn't produce the
narcotic compounds? Make them prolific pollen producers, and introduce
them
into the wild where these are cash crops. This could severely cut the
potency of these drugs, and thus reduce their cash value. This would
have a
strong impact on the flow of drugs and money into narcotrafficer and
terrorist organizations.

Just a thought.



If effective, it would reduce opium production if the flowers were not
fertilized as the seed pod would not be there to tap.. Cocoa production,
however, depends on leaf production so negating the flower would likely
increase
production.

Dennis

Cocoa production isn't harmful, except to chocaholics, surely?

This is a bit like the release of sterile male insects, which has been used
with limited success, but it might be an appropriate use of the "terminator"
gene, if you can produce it in a form where it resists transgenic transfer
into useful plants.
The biggest problem is likely to be that if you reduce the supply, you
increase the unit value of the remaining product, so you'll have all the
crackheads chasing fewer rocks, which they have to pay more for, so they
have to rob more people....
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