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filmmaker - Kevin Booth
released 2007
118 minutes
independent film
produced by Sacred Cow Productions

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American, from Connecticut
the drug epidemic is personal to him
he's had family and friends die from overdoses

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I believe the goal of this film was to inform and make viewers question "facts" concerning the war on drugs. I also believe the intended audience is Americans, to make them more aware of how their government is addressing issues.

but the filmmaker said himself:

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Rather than a more straightforward war documentary consisting of two sides opposing each other, this film questions if the war on drugs was just one country (America) fighting itself. It also addresses many ideas that are not confirmed to be true. There's a lot of conspiracy theories.

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before introducing new ideas, here's some context

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before introducing new ideas, here's some context

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1971 - President Nixon declared a War on Drugs
Prohibition on drugs to end illegal drug trade in US

private prisons profit off of high rates of incarcerated drug offenders

drugs continued to advance to become more accessible and cheaper, with the introduction of crack and methamphetamines

Reagan became president 1981 - he aimed to eradicate communism around the world
War on Drugs became tangled with the anti-communist efforts

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Iran-Contra scandal

President Reagan supported the anti-communist group by the name of Contra, who were fighting in Nicaragua against a Cuban-supported group. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the CIA assisted Contra and other global anti-communist groups. Financially supporting Contra was restricted but Reagan was determined to help them.

1985 - Iran and Iraq at war

Iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the US

BUT there was an embargo against selling weapons to Iran

Reagan rationalized selling weapons to Iran was okay because:

- it would improve US relations with Iran and Lebanon

- he could secure the release of US hostages in Lebanon

- it wasn't negotiating with terrorists, he had a "duty to bring those Americans home"

the proposal of the weapons-for-hostages deal could not be agreed upon in the administration, but with the president's approval it progressed anyway. By the time the administration discovered the sales, more than 1,500 missiles had been shipped to Iran. however, only 3 hostages were released who were then replaced by 3 new hostages. it was later discovered that only $12 million of the $30 million from Iran had reached the government. colonel Oliver North of the national security council then came forward, saying he had been directing the incoming money from Iran to the Contra efforts. The national security council approved of this and it was assumed that President Reagan would too.

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the crack conspiracy theory - a big theme in this film

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the crack conspiracy theory - a big theme in this film

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to put it simply, many experts and evidence suggest the CIA is responsible for the emergence of crack into black communities in LA

"Freeway Ricky Ross" is largely blamed for the crack epidemic in the US. He's now in jail, but he ran the LA drug scene as a dealer.

Kevin was not allowed access to Rick, but he started interviewing Rick over the phone. Perhaps the most groundbreaking part of this film is some information Rick gave Kevin:
HIS COCAINE SOURCE HAD BEEN WORKING FOR THE CIA

this gives more validity to the already popular theory that the CIA introduced crack to the US. Why would they do this, you might ask? To financially support Contra.

even more evidence! former head of the DEA, Robert Bonner, has said that a ton of pure cocaine worth hundreds of millions of dollars had been smuggled into the US and he blamed the CIA (in cooperation with the Venezuelan National Guard)

but wait there's more - as early as 1984, the US received reports that Contra was trafficking cocaine (this is a fact not a theory). however, the US government still supported Contra and gave financial aid. Contra was selling cocaine to fund their movement, and the US was going to already desperate measures to help (such as the Iran-Contra scandal). It's confirmed that the man who has been blamed for introducing crack to the US (Ricky Ross) was working under a CIA official. And the HEAD of the DEA has confirmed the CIA worked in an operation that brought cocaine to the US. Is it so crazy to think that perhaps the CIA participated in the dealing cocaine in order to financially support their anti-communist allies?

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the most engaging aspect of this film is the equal amount of interviews from people on both sides of the "war". There were also some people who moved around sides and showed an interesting new perspective. Some of those interviewed:
Freeway Ricky Ross, former LA drug lord
Robert Steele, CIA Officer
Barry McCaffrey, former US drug czar, retired army general
T. Rodgers, co-founder of Bloods gang
Celerino Castillo III, former DEA agent
Mike Ruppert, former LAPD narcotics officer
Tommy Chong, actor and activist
Robert Bonner, former head of the DEA

There were many others who were interviewed but this list shows an impressive range. This many perspectives gave the documentary an accurate representation of the drug war. One notable moment in Ricky's interview was when he talked about how as a kid he obviously didn't want to be a drug dealer, he wanted to be a police officer or firefighter. It was very refreshing to see those incarcerated for drugs be humanized.

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a more recent photo of Tommy Chong, arrested on drug charges

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a more recent photo of Tommy Chong, arrested on drug charges

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this was a LONG almost 2 hour documentary, with so much information that I had to stop and digest it constantly. this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the disorganization was troubling. Personally, if I were to create a lengthy, ridiculously informative documentary I would very carefully organize it to make it as clear as possible to viewers who probably have never been introduced to this topic before.