American Drug War: The Last White Hope

Some of the information I was already aware of but wow does this movie tie everything together and put things into a different perspective. Prohibition doesn't work, we should've learned from our history with alcohol, which by the way kills more every year and ruins more lives than all the other drugs put togther.

"Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person and/or property of another. Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property.... Unless this clear distinction between vices and crimes be made and recognized by the laws, there can be on earth no such thing as individual right, liberty, or property...."

American Drug War: The Last White Hope
The subject of America's love for mind-altering substances (legal and illegal) is broad and deep enough to provide material for a dozen documentaries, but Kevin Booth does an excellent job of putting together a coherent two-hour film that takes on several aspects of the drug war. I got this movie two weeks ago in the mail and since then have been trying to make every friend and family member watch it.
That there are over a million non-violent people in jail and prison in this country because of the drug war is beyond absurd. But here we are. And there they are. And only a few politicians dare to question the rationality of criminalizing the very human impulse to feel good. Why? Among other reasons: The money that the prison-industrial complex and the alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries lavish on politicians ... and the cut of the action that Wall Street and the gov't takes from the illegal drug trade.
Go to YouTube to watch the trailer.
Then buy the movie.

I must disclose that I came into this movie at the very end when the brilliant producer realized I could provide a few bits that would bring it all together. I volunteered my time because I felt then--and I feel now--that this film was totally righteous. So I am listed as one of the "actors" but unlike some of them for whom file clips were used, I was taped speaking about this specific situation for this specific movie.

Our government is BROKEN. The civil servants and uniformed personnel are good people trapped in a bad system--a cesspool. Standing above them, hoarding the wealth, the power, and the personal privilege, are "elected" officials and their appointed cronies that have no business at all governing this great nation. They are inept and should be dismissed. We need a Constitutional Convention, an end to the Elctoral College, and deep Electoral, Financial, and National Security Reforms.

See also:
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Institutions of American Democracy)
The Bush Tragedy

I have tagged this DVD with the word treason, because that is what CIA, DEA, the FBI, and the White House are guilty of when they protect drug wholesalers and allow entire neighborhoods to go down the crack drain, not because of Ricky Ross, but because of high crimes and misdemeanors all the way up the chain above him.

In my world, accountability is supposed to start and be enforced from the top down, not the bottom up. I hold John Deutch and later George Tenet accountable for failing to manage all five of the CIAs (the Wall Street CIA, the White House CIA, the front CIA, the paramilitary CIA, and the sodomy Safari Club CIA). I can only imagine the counterparts in DEA and the FBI and other elements of the government with the power to commit treason and get away with it while making a personal profit from the power We the People have assigned to them.

I just got this DVD and it's amazing! I had seen the film at a festival last year so I knew what to expect, but the new version was much more polished and the bonus features alone make this disc one for the collection. Hats off to Kevin Booth; great film, great production value, great way to get the message out and the discussion started!

Whether you are a advocate of legalizing marijuana or not, this is a fascinating documentary that brings to life the reality of government corruption and what the war on drugs is really about.