Opponent of Prop. 19 Announces Investigation Results: Killer Fungus Grows on Marijuana

LOS ANGELES, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- After months of research and the gathering of expert opinion, Opponent to Proposition 19 Alexandra Datig launched the official findings on the campaign's website www.nipitinthebud2010.org

Datig says, "We have all heard about the harms of black mold on humans and the devastation it can cause to a home, its ventilation system, its walls, floors and its building materials.  Stachybotrys mold needs four things to grow and turn into a deadly toxin known as the Black Mold:  Wood and other forms of cellulose such as plant matter, water, heat and air.  Stunningly, indoor marijuana cultivation offers all four.  Stachybotrys exists on almost all building materials, however it is not dangerous until it encounters moisture/humidity, which is a necessary component to the indoor growth of marijuana.  We must look into the financial hardships this could cause homeowners and insurance companies. "

"The campaign's investigation findings have also confirmed that the three most dangerous strains of Aspergillus fungus naturally exist in marijuana plants.  They are Aspergillus fumigitus, flavus and niger.  Heat, moisture and the rate of decaying plant matter, such as the essential dry-down process of marijuana, causes a window of opportunity for the microscopic fungus to grow rapidly, resulting in a deadly afla-toxin."  

A 1996 treatment study conducted by Wythenshawe Hospital Manchester in the United Kingdom on 10,000 patients with Invasive Aspergillosis has shown $633 Million in treatment costs, averaging $63,300 per patient to treat, not cure, Aspergillosis.

For more information on the findings:  Visit www.nipitinthebud2010.org

SOURCE Opposition to the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative